According to reports, certain senators from the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) disclosed the distribution of funds collected from colleges and other postsecondary educational establishments in order to approve their 2025 budgets.
Some MPs have told Premium Times that they received $1,000 as “appreciation money” despite the National Assembly’s denial of extorting universities. However, they were ignorant of its source until the aforementioned magazine revealed the continued corruption.
As previously reported in the aforementioned media, the House Committee on University Education and the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFUND sought ₦8 million from every federal university in the nation. According to the probe, politicians threatened to “deal” with vice-chancellors who refused to participate after collecting ₦480 million from university leaders.
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“Many senators on the committee in the Senate were given $1,000 each as “appreciation money.” The majority of committee members, according to one anonymous source, were not aware of the plan and were given the funds in envelopes without knowing where they came from.
“Members lack sufficient knowledge about what is being place. They only get meager amounts in envelopes from agencies, which they call “appreciation money,” the insider continued.
That disclosure was confirmed by another lawmaker, who said that although many lawmakers consider such gifts to be routine, some reject them. Two senators from Sokoto and Lagos who do not participate in money sharing were mentioned by the source.
According to the aforementioned article, 66 polytechnics and colleges of education have contributed ₦528 million to the National Assembly’s committees in order to pass their budgets.
