Scandal Rocks TETFUND Over Missing N200 Billion

The sudden disappearance of the sum of N200 Billion from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFUND, is currently giving officials headache and might be a subject of an intense investigation, Pointblanknews.com gathered.

TETFund are managers of multi billion Naira fund for the development of tertiary institutions across Nigeria.

Very credible inside sources told Pointblanknews.com that top members of the former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration may have to explain to security agencies how they pressured the Executive Secretary of TETFUND into releasing the sum of N200 Billion.

Sources told Pointblanknews.com that few months to the elections, some unnamed members of the previous administration wrote several letters to the leadership of TETFUND soliciting for financial support towards the elections.

The letters according to a source, emanated from some senior Government officials whose position, the leadership of TETFUND could not ignore.

A member of the TETFUND board recently dissolved by president Mohammadu Buhari told Pointblanknews.com that while they deliberated on some of the financial requests made, the board was still at a loss how N200 Billion disappeared from TETFUND accounts.

The former board member who does not want his name in print disclosed that what is known to his colleagues is that the Executive Secretary of TETFUND, Professor Sulaiman Bogoro spends millions sponsoring political activities of his godfathers to keep his job.

“We are still shocked at the disappearance of the N200 Billion from TETFUND account. But one thing that we know is that the ES sponsors so many political activities that runs into millions and I wont be shocked if the N200 Billion is part of it,” the former board member told Pointblanknews.com

Sources hinted that TETFUND is like the proverbial cash cow where Politicians from the peoples Democratic Party, PDP, often go to for cash. Musa Babayo, a chieftain of PDP who until the dissolution of the board was Chairman has had several months of friction with the Executive secretary over financial matters.

Sources said both men fought severally over who controls funds. Another insider told Pointblanknews.com that the Executive Secretary is currently in quandary over how to defend the disappearance of the N200 Billion when called upon by Security Agencies to do so.

Only recently, a petition by an anti graft NGO, Transparency Crusaders, called on the President Buhari prevail upon the EFCC chairman, Ibrahim Lamorde and the ICPC boss, Mr Ekpo Nta , to investigate officials of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund.

The petition, alleged amongst other things that, since his appointment as the Executive Secretary, Professor Bogoro has been working in defiance of directives from the chairman of the board of the fund, Alhaji Babayo by creating a cartel that sleazes the fund in active connivance with some bank officials.

According to them, all the funds classified as un-accessed, and even those claimed to have been remitted to the beneficiaries were often left with banks to yield interest, which were often raked off by TETFund officials, before the returns are made to the Executive Secretary, through his confidants.

Describing as bogey, the recent disbursement of N135 billion to government owned Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education, the anti graft agencies were invited to look into the operations of the accounts of TETFund domiciled at ECOBANK and two other third generation banks to verify the transactions on the funds since it was disbursed to TETFund about three months earlier, and why it was kept for long in the banks until the time of election.

They alleged that, TETFUND Executive Secretary was fond of sponsoring the political activities of some politicians, especially in his home state, and also paying heavy ransoms to his political godfathers, by dolling out millions from the coffers of the establishment, even as he allegedly used the funds to oppose President Buhari emergence, by openly supporting Jonathan’s PDP.

Other allegations levelled against the management of the Fund is that, most contractors handling major TETFUND contracts across the country were either stooges of the Executive Secretary or his godfathers, who were awarded the contracts through Bogoro’s instrumentality, and who make returns appropriately.

Professor, the petitioners alleged that Bogoro has been fanning the embers of religious politics in the North-East sub region, and may have equipped some youths to execute his religious agenda, using politics as an alibi.

Source: pointblanknews.com