From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has called for a review of some sections of the new tax reform bills undergoing legislative processes, stating that such sections, if allowed to pass, could affect the funding of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), and by extension, the entire tertiary education system.
ASUU mentioned Section 59(3) of the new tax bill which states that only 50 per cent of the Development Levy would be made available to TETFund in year 2025 and 2026, while NITDA, NASENI, and NELFund would share the remaining percentages.
It added that TETFund will also receive 66.7 per cent in year 2027, 2028 and 2029, but will have zero percent allocation in 2030 and thereafter. ASUU President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, in a statement, on Friday, said the union was alarmed by the “dangerous and unpatriotic” aspect of the proposed new tax regime to wit: that the Education Tax, called Development Levy, used to bankroll TETFund’s programmes will be ceded to the newly established Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFund). He said: “The far-reaching consequence of the new tax system is that from 2030, all funds generated from the Development Levy will be passed to NELFund. ASUU finds this development not only worrisome but also inimical to our national development objective because of the potential danger to the survival of TETFund.” He said that ASUU is compelled by the circumstance to observe that, “taking any percentage out of the Education Tax (Development Levy) to service another agency not known to the TETFund Act 2011 is illegal and should not be allowed to stand, insisting that giving zero allocation of Development Levy to TETFund as from 2030 is a technical way of abrogating the agency.