The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Yola Zone, has voiced its strong opposition to the proposed Nigeria Tax Bill (NTB) 2024, urging the National Assembly to reject the legislation.
According to reports from Naija News, ASUU argued that if the bill becomes law, it would gradually erode the funding allocated to the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), potentially depleting its resources entirely by 2030.
Dani Mamman, the Coordinator of the ASUU Yola Zone, described the proposed NTB 2024 as unacceptable, highlighting its plan to reduce TETFund’s share of the development levy to just 50% between 2025 and 2026.
The remaining funds, according to the bill, would be diverted to NITDA, NASENI, and NELFUND. This zone, comprising institutions such as Adamawa State University (ADSU) Mubi, Modibbo Adama University (MAU) Yola, Federal University Gashua (FUGA), Taraba State University (TSU) Jalingo, University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID), and Yobe State University (YSU) Damaturu, warned that the bill would severely undermine TETFund and harm the tertiary education system.
ASUU also rejected the planned reduction of TETFund allocations between 2027 and 2029, which would ultimately result in the fund receiving no allocation at all by 2030.
The union criticized the idea of “replacing TETFund’s critical role with NELFUND,” warning that such a move would leave TETFund with zero funding from the development levy by 2030 and beyond.
ASUU emphasized that TETFund has played a significant role in improving infrastructure across universities and other tertiary institutions. Cutting off its funding, the union argued, could return these institutions to the poor state that initially necessitated the creation of TETFund.
“Redirecting funds originally allocated to TETFund to other agencies is a violation of the TETFund Act 2011 and represents a serious mismanagement of resources,” the union concluded.