The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has made a startling disclosure about a polytechnic in the South East region, which receives billions of naira in yearly intervention funds despite having a remarkably small student population of only 30.

The Executive Secretary of the Fund, Sonny Echono, stated this yesterday, in Abuja, at the 2025 one-day strategic interactive workshops for heads of institutions, bursars and heads of procurement of TETFund beneficiary institutions.

Describing the situation as shocking and embarrassing, Echono revealed that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is already investigating the matter.

Although the Executive Secretary did not disclose the name of the polytechnic, he pointed out that it was established four years ago.

“I was so embarrassed when it was brought to my attention that a particular polytechnic in the South-East that has been there for four years has only 30 students.

“The South-East of all places where, if you go to any state, including the Northern region, you will see students from the South-East in those institutions. Yet, this was put at their doorstep, and they have only 30 students, and they have been accessing all their yearly disbursements.”

“We (TETFund) are disbursing billions (to the institution). And who are the people they are spending the money on? We describe it as a waste of money. It is so bad that EFCC is on it. I was shocked and I didn’t realise that it was that bad,” he said.

He cautioned that institutions that fail to effectively access, utilise, or account for funds, or those not meeting enrollment and academic performance standards, risk losing eligibility for TETFund’s support programmes. Echono clarified that the policy’s purpose is to protect the integrity and effectiveness of the Fund’s interventions, not to punish institutions.