ASUP Seeks Exemption of Tertiary Institutions from IGR Deduction

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

The academic staff of  federal polytechnics in the country has urged the federal government to exclude tertiary institutions from the policy requiring all partially funded federal government institutions to return 50 per cent of their Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).

They said that federal government should rather devise means of increasing funding to the tertiary institutions as they should be treated as part of the social service sectors in dire need of resuscitation and stability.

The lecturers under the auspices of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnic (ASUP) said they are against the classification of tertiary institutions as revenue generating agencies or agents of the federal government.
ASUP President, Shammah Kpanja who signed the statement said: “We are equally aware that following the outcry from the nation, the president directed a suspension of the policy in federal tertiary institutions.    

“We are therefore surprised and worried that the federal ministry of finance is issuing yet another circular to this effect presumably overriding the presidential directive on the issue as there are no reports yet indicating that the president has lifted the suspension”.

He said the union’s worry is the continued classification of the tertiary institutions as “revenue generating agencies or agents of the federal government.
ASUP said it viewed as embarrassing the apparent discrepancy between an earlier circular of 40 per cent internally generated revenue deduction issued by the federal government in October 2023 and that of December 28 issued by the federal ministry of finance.
“We view this an embarrassingly poor understanding of the workings and indeed the well documented deplorable funding status of these tertiary institutions by the federal ministry of finance,” it added.

The union urged government to consider the funding challenges tertiary institutions are currently facing and find better ways to meet their needs.
“For the records and the umpteenth time, tuition fees are forbidden in the nation’s tertiary institutions as a policy of the government.
“These institutions survive on the meagre allocations for capital, overhead and personnel costs from the government with support from interventionist agencies like the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETfund)

“The fees charged by these institutions which are currently and erroneously tagged as IGR are charges for specific services to students.
“We are indeed worried by this unwelcome end of the year ‘gift’ by the federal ministry of finance as same is a clear invitation to anarchy in these tertiary institutions.
“As a matter of fact, no polytechnic in the country can survive with this poorly thought-out policy of classifying tertiary institutions as revenue generating agencies.

“We are therefore calling for the exclusion of tertiary institutions in general and polytechnics in particular from this circular,” ASUP added.