The Executive Secretary of Tertiary Education Fund, TETFund, Sonny Echono, said the board has disbursed over N400 billion to tertiary institutions across the country in 2023.

Echono disclosed this on Monday in Makurdi while speaking to journalists during TETFund’s management retreat.

He said that the amount represented the backlog of previous years that were not accessed and disbursement for the ongoing year.

Echono said the funds disbursed were in two phases and the first phase was in 2023, with the approved disbursement in the neighbourhood of about N320 billion.

He said: “I am also pleased to report that today they have accessed more than that. The reason is that we have a backlog of allocations from previous years that some institutions have not accessed but because we streamlined the process and created an avenue to assist the institutions in accessing their backlog, that number has grown.

“So, now we are in the neighbourhood of about N400 billion that we have disbursed to our institutions this year, far in excess of the budget because most of the outstanding allocations are now being accessed. We are also removing little bottlenecks that are hampering the completion of these projects.”

Echono further added that TETFund can not be extended to private institutions for now due to the extant law of the country.

He said: “The only way we collaborate with private institutions currently is in the area of research because we know that research is universal and we know that knowledge is collaboration.

“So, we are encouraging them to participate and we sponsor people or private individuals who have ideas. Going forward, we are under authority; if the law is amended and extended, we will have no exceptions.”