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 leveled 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.