The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) and the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), have formalised a partnership through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

The signed agreement signaled a significant step towards enhancing collaboration and information sharing between the two entities.
 
The primary objective of the agreement is to leverage data and insights from NEITI’s oversight of the extractive sector to optimise remittances to TETFund. This, in turn, will bolster funding for tertiary education in Nigeria, address critical infrastructure and research needs in universities and other tertiary institutions across Nigeria.
 
Industry stakeholders believe that by promoting transparency and accountability in the extractive industry, the nation will benefit immensely, especially when revenue accruing to the government from oil, gas and other natural resources is accurately reported and fully accounted for.
 
According to them, transparency will not only help in maximising the benefits from these resources but also contribute to better governance and economic development.
 
At the signing ceremony held in Abuja, recently, TETFund Executive Secretary, Arc. Sonny Echono, said the partnership will deepen accountability, particularly within the oil, gas and other extractive industries, while aligning with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Echono was elated that the epoch-making MoU was the culmination of ‘series of engagements’ between the two agencies.
 
The Executive Secretary also emphasised the need for clarity on tax compliance by companies to ensure they pay the correct amount of taxes, as well as revenue transparency in reporting to eliminate discrepancies between companies’ payments and their disclosures to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
 
The TETFund boss said the collaboration will enable expansion of TETFund’s support for infrastructural development in tertiary institutions across the country, leveraging NEITI’s credible data and expertise in financial auditing and revenue tracking.
 
“I have had the privilege of visiting the office of my colleague, and we have been exploring various avenues of ensuring accountability, particularly in the oil and gas and other extractive industrial sector, to ensure that taxes that are due to be remitted to the educational tax fund are made to ensure that we fulfill of Mr. President’s purpose of restoring our institutions in the shortest possible time, and instituting a framework that will enable us get accurate, credible and up to date data on what these should be. This is something we have been working very hard on, and it will culminate into a very firm agreement between the two agencies,” Echono said.
 
The Executive Secretary explained that the Fund was not only focused on prudent expenditure but also on expanding and improving its revenue collection framework .

He added that the establishment of a dedicated Department of Revenue and Investment, approved by TETFund’s Board of Trustees, has significantly enhanced revenue performance.
 
“That has also been one of the reasons you are seeing very significant improvements in revenue because all across our zonal offices, we have officers located there, who are working with the Federal Inland Revenue Service and their staff deployed in their zonal offices to basically go to every entity that is supposed to pay tax to ensure compliance.

“They will confirm compliance, if they are paying, verify whether they are paying the right amount and timely too. However, there are some companies that are more difficult and complicated to track, such as the offshore companies,” he said.
 
On the potential impact of the ongoing tax reforms, Echono clarified that although some terminologies will change, for instance, the education tax giving way for development levy, the core financial mechanisms would remain intact.
 
“But TETFund will be entitled to 50 per cent of that development (education) levy. So, the same procedure, the same parameter, this same MoU will provide a framework for us to track development,” he added.
 
On his part, NEITI Executive Secretary, Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, described the agreement as both “timely and significant”, emphasising its role in ensuring that revenues from natural resources are transparently managed and effectively utilised.
 
“NEITI and TETFund are united by a common goal – to ensure that revenues earned from Nigeria’s natural resources are not only transparently managed but also efficiently deployed to promote development, reduce poverty and advance our national aspirations,” he said.
 
Orji said substantial revenue accrued to TETFund over the past five years, amounting to approximately N1.024 trillion between 2019 and 2023, mostly come from the extractive sector.
 
He, however, clarified that money under accruals is not same as remittances.
 
He said: “Allow me to share some key figures from NEITI’s audited industry reports covering the last five years.
 
“In 2022, total revenue accruals to TETFund stood at N322.99 billion. In 2023, that figure rose significantly to N571.01 billion, the highest annual inflow to date. From 2019 to 2021, NEITI audit data shows that total accruals to TETFund amounted to N644.19 billion, of which N624.32 billion was disbursed.
 
“This means that within the last five years alone (2019–2023), total revenue accruals to TETFund from Education Tax reached approximately N1.024 trillion, highlighting the centrality of the extractive sector in financing Nigeria’s tertiary education.
 
“These funds are drawn from the profits of companies in oil, gas, mining, manufacturing, telecommunications, banking, and other sectors, many of which fall within NEITI’s audit purview.”

Noting that no country has achieved prosperity by merely exporting crude resources, Orji said that by supporting tertiary education, research and innovation, TETFund plays a pivotal role in converting finite mineral resources into infinite human capital.
 
He said that under the MoU, NEITI will work with TETFund to ensure timely and prompt remittances through early deployment of evidence-based data.
 
“NEITI will also provide real-time information on revenue accruals due to TETFund to guarantee transparency and support the Fund in tracking remittances and utilisation. Our joint effort will uplift educational institutions, enhance access to scholarships and strengthen the research ecosystem across our public tertiary institutions,” he added.

On his part, the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education, Abel Enitan, described the initiative as a strategic step towards sustainable development in the education sector.
 
“This is a welcome development because it means more funding for education, which is the bedrock of our development in a sustainable manner.
 
“You also know that government is with so many demands from different sectors and if this source of income or revenue is identified and is followed, and the tracking is done properly and the money comes in as expected, the more development will come to the sector and you and I will be the beneficiaries. It will impact not only our present generation but the future ones.
 
“So, it is a welcome development; the ministry supports it, the ministry applauds this move and one major thing is that it has to do with transparency,” Enitan said.
 
Ultimately, the collaboration between the two agencies is poised to have a positive impact on both the education sector and the broader economy, fostering a more sustainable and equitable management of Nigeria’s natural resources.