President Bola Tinubu has declared the cancellation of the policy that automatically deducts 40 per cent from the Internally Generated Revenues (IGR) of federal universities.
Tinubu made this announcement on Friday at the 75th Founder’s Day ceremony of the University of Ibadan (UI) in Ibadan.
The President, who was represented by the Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, said the policy implementation was ill-timed, considering the challenges faced by the universities. He said the policy was enacted in 2020 and the circular was issued in 2021, but it was not a suitable time for such a policy.
Tinubu reaffirmed his commitment to the reform of the nation’s education sector as the foundation for national development. He said the education sector would be aligned with the 2030 education agenda of the government and the African Union goal 2063.
He also said that the introduction of student loans was to ensure that no student was denied access to education due to poverty.
He said, “The Federal Government is bringing more innovation to reform the entire education sector for curriculum review at all levels from primary to basic education with the reintroduction of skills to attend to out-of-school menace.”
The policy of 40 per cent IGR automatic deduction had sparked outrage among the stakeholders in the education sector.
A leaked memo addressed to the heads of the universities by the Nigerian government had stated that from November, universities would have 40 per cent of revenues generated internally and deposited in their accounts deducted automatically by the government via the Treasury Single Accounts (TSA).
The memo, which was dated October 17 and signed by the Director of Revenue and Investment Department, Felix Ogundairo, had stated that the decision, which affected all partially funded government agencies and parastatals including universities, was in line with the provisions of Section 62 of Finance Act 2020.