The Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFund, has strongly dismissed allegations circulating on social media that it funded the All Progressives Congress, APC, to the tune of N325 million.
In a statement issued on Thursday by its Director of Public Affairs, Abdulmumin Oniyangi the organization described the claims as “preposterous and totally false.”
The allegations reportedly stemmed from a letter purportedly written by the Adamawa State Woman Leader of the APC, Mrs. Patricia Yakubu to the National Security Adviser.
Part of the letter titled: ‘Corruption and Criminal misappropriation of Party funds’ noted that TETFund gave out N25m from the start of October 2023 till October 2024, totalling N325m for one year.
“The money is meant for running day to day party activities in and outside the state. The party account has been completely abandoned; the financial secretary has been removed as a signatory against the party constitution. Treasurer has been totally sidelined in all financial dealings.
“All Financial transactions are done through an individual account (account details for investigation available). There was this time they collected three months at once totaling Seventy-Five Million naira (₦75,000,000.00). Sometimes, these monies are paid through BDCs.
“All issues about these are kept secret by the Chairman, Secretary and Organizing Secretary, while some party executives and faithful are languishing in abject poverty, cannot afford to pay school fees, their children are home, some have died because they cannot afford hospital bills.
“Contracts from TETFund at FCE Yola and GMMC Yola for the benefit of the party was kept secret. They sold contracts and concealed the proceed.
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“That several trucks of rice and fertilizer were given from the office of the NSA and former minister of education respectively as palliative, but only shared 1 – 2 bags to Excos and sold the remaining thereby committed fraud. (Concrete Evidence will be produced at the appropriate time),” the letter purported.
However, describing such allegation as baseless, Oniyangi asserted that “TETFund is not a political party funder.”
“The insinuation is not only preposterous and totally false, but also a great disservice to the nation that an individual of such political standing would engage in such frivolity without an iota of evidence”, hhe explained.
The Fund further dismissed claims regarding contract sales at General Murtala Mohammed College, Yola, stating that the institution is not a beneficiary of TETFund.
“FCE Yola, which is a Beneficiary Institution, is solely responsible for the engagement of its contractors in line with the policy of the Fund,” the statement clarified.
TETFund emphasized that such accusations were becoming a worrying trend but vowed to remain focused on its mandate to support tertiary education in Nigeria.
“The Fund has observed that allegations of this nature, sponsored by desperate individuals, have become the trend in recent times but will not be deterred in carrying out its statutory mandate,” Oniyangi said.
The organization reaffirmed its commitment to its core mission of rehabilitating, restoring, and consolidating tertiary education in Nigeria, adding that its operations have been reinvigorated under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu.
The statement concluded with a call for accuracy from critics. “We advise that detractors get their facts right so as to avoid misleading the public,” Oniyangi advised.
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