The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has strongly opposed sections of the proposed Tax Administration Bill, citing its potential to undermine the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) and the broader education sector in Nigeria.
ASUU, at a press conference addressed by the zonal coordinator Abuja Zone, Salahu Lawal, said the bill, if passed, will reduce funding for TETFund for the first two years and dry it up completely by 2030.
The union said that TETFund interventions have been instrumental to infrastructural development and training of Nigerian academics. It, therefore, noted it would reject all moves to take away funding from the agency, which was first established in 1993 following the union’s persistent struggles and negotiations with the government.
ASUU added that the bill currently before the National Assembly is injurious not only to tertiary education but the entire education sector.
“The survival of TETFund is a matter of national importance,” Mr Lawal said at the press conference held at the University of Abuja on Thursday.
The union called on the National Assembly to ensure that TETFund remains protected under the Nigeria Tax Bill 2024.
Contentious section
The academic union rejected the part of the proposed tax bill that repealed the three per cent education tax currently accrued to TETFund per the Finance Act (2023).
Instead, the bill proposed a flat four per cent development levy to be shared between TETFund, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), and the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).
“ASUU is principally upset by Section 59 (3) of the Nigeria Tax Bill, 2024, which recommends that only 50 per cent of the Education Tax (Development Levy) will be allotted to TETFund in 2025 and 2026. The remaining funds are to be shared among NITDA, NASENI, and NELFUND,” the union said.
“Additionally, from 2030 onwards, TETFund would receive no allocation, with all proceeds redirected to NELFUND implying that TETFund will cease to exist: this is the dastard evil behind the Tax Reform Bill of 2024.”
ASUU, which has always opposed both the establishment and operation of NELFUND, said the shift in funding towards student loans may be an approach to force public tertiary education institutions to continue to hike fees payable by students.
“The phasing out of TETFund would cause a momentous danger to tertiary education in Nigeria, as its aids to the physical infrastructure and human capital development would eventually come to a stop. This move could also lead to students becoming protracted debtors, imitating the financial challenges faced by the nation itself,” it said.
TETFund’s impact
The union noted that in the Abuja zone, comprising five universities, TETFund has been the major financier for staff training, building of offices, classrooms, lecture theatres and laboratories.
The universities in this zone are; Federal University of Technology (FUT), Minna, Niger State; Federal University Lafia, Nasarawa State, Ibrahim Babangida Badamasi University, (IBBU), Lapai, Niger State; Nasarawa State University (NSUK), and the University of Abuja.
Listing TETFund interventions to the five universities, ASUU said in NSUK alone, over 30 major structures have been constructed and over 100 academics sponsored for higher degrees both in local and overseas universities —all by the intervention agency.
“Similarly, over 300 staff have enjoyed sponsorship for international conferences spanning between 2010 to 2023,” it said.
At the Federal University of Lafia, the union said TETFund is responsible for the construction of over 90 per cent of the 55 physical structures on the university’s two campuses.
“It is also responsible for local and foreign staff training and building and equipping of laboratories since inception of the university. The only main library of the University was built solely by the Fund,” it added.
At the University of Abuja, it said over 70 per cent of all the physical structures including furnishing and equipping of laboratories were as a result of TETFund intervention.
At FUT Minna, over 80 per cent of staff who obtained higher degrees between 2010 and 2023 were fully sponsored by TETFund, the union said.
“Similarly, the university benefitted from the construction of over 40 major physical structures including lecture theatres, offices, classrooms, laboratories and workshops.”
The union added that staff training at IBBU, Lapai as sponsored by the Fund stood at over 250 for both local and foreign postgraduate studies.
Government defends bill
Meanwhile, the federal government has defended the sections of the bill rejected by ASUU.
In a statement in December, a presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, explained that the tax reform bills seek to consolidate the taxes into one and share them as appropriate.
Mr Onanuga said the government was only trying to change how the agencies like TETFund and NITDA are funded and not end their existence.
“The proposal, as contained in section 59(3) of the Nigeria Tax Bill, only seeks to consolidate some of the earmarked taxes imposed on companies and replace them with a single tax to be shared with the key agencies as beneficiaries in a phased manner until 2030,” he said.
“The time frame offers ample opportunity for the affected agencies to explore other funding sources in addition to budgetary allocations in line with the constitution and international best practices.”
