President Bola Tinubu has cancelled the contentious deduction of 40% of internally generated revenues from federal universities across the country.
The President, who was represented by Education Minister Tahir Mamman, spoke at the University of Ibadan’s 75th Founder’s Day celebration on Friday, calling the policy implementation “ill-timed.”
He further claimed that such a policy was not appropriate given the state of our universities.
In his speech as a visitor to the university, Tinubu pledged his commitment to the reform of the nation’s education sector as the bedrock for national development.
He said, “The 40 percent IGR automatic deduction policy stands cancelled. This is not the best time for such a policy since our universities are struggling.”
The Tinubu-led Federal Government, in a letter dated October 17, 2023, titled ‘Implementation of 40% automatic deduction from internally generated revenue of partially funded federal government institutions,’ said it would begin the deduction with effect from November 2023.
The letter, signed by Mrs. Oluwatoyin Madein, Accountant-General of the Federation, and Felix Ore-ofe Ogundairo, Director of Revenue and Investment, Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, stated that the auto-deduction policy of gross IGR was in accordance with the Finance Circular with reference number FMFBNP/OTHERS/IGR/CRF/12/2021 dated December 20, 2021.
Reacting, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) requested that the Federal Government remove universities from the list of agencies required to pay 40% of their internal revenue.
ASUU explained that universities were not revenue-generating agencies in a statement signed by its National President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, on Tuesday after its National Executive Council meeting at Kaduna State University.
According to Osodeke, withholding 40% of IGR from universities will impoverish the university system.
