President Tinubu approves N700bn for universities nationwide

President Bola Tinubu has approved the disbursement of over N700bn to tertiary institutions through the Tertiary Education Trust Fund in 2025, with benefiting universities expected to get N2.8bn

The Executive Secretary of TETFund, Sonny Echono, announced this during the 2025 Strategic Planning Meeting with heads of tertiary institutions in Abuja on Thursday.

Echono outlined the allocation structure, stating that 91.08% of the funds would be distributed directly.

This includes 48.90% for annual direct disbursement and 42.18% for special direct disbursement.

Additionally, 8.72% is earmarked for designated projects, while 0.20% is allocated to stabilisation funds.

“Based on this approval, each university will receive N2.8bn, polytechnics N1.9bn, and colleges of education N2.1bn as annual direct disbursement,” Echono said.

He emphasised that intervention activities have been significantly expanded in line with national priorities outlined in the Education Sector Road Map under President Tinubu’s administration, as spearheaded by the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa.

Echono also highlighted the government’s directive to focus physical infrastructure development allocations for 2025 on upgrading, rehabilitating, and renovating dilapidated facilities in beneficiary institutions.

“This directive was communicated earlier to enable institutions to consult widely and prepare their projects in advance. Beneficiaries are encouraged to utilise their consultancy and physical planning units in preparing projects under the current disbursement cycle,” he advised.

The Executive Secretary noted that TETFund had significantly increased allocations for research and innovation, academic staff training and development, as well as manuscript and book development.

Additionally, the number of institutions benefiting from special and designated projects has been expanded.

Echono urged institutional heads to commence early implementation of their allocations, consult with their communities, and ensure timely payments to contractors and vendors.

“I call on all heads of beneficiary institutions to fully utilise their 2024 and previous allocations while expediting the procurement process to access their 2025 funds,” he stated.