Deducting Universities IGR Will Impoverish Universities – ASUU Warns

The Academic Staff Union of colleges (ASUU) claims that the federal government’s plan to automatically remove 40% of colleges’ domestically generated money will negatively impact higher education.

In October, the Ministry of Finance announced its plan to automatically deduct 40% of IGR from educational institutions around the country.

However, ASUU clarified that universities were not businesses that generated income in a statement released on Tuesday after its National Executive Council meeting at Kaduna State University, Kaduna, and signed by its National President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke. The statement also stated that the mandatory fees paid by students were intended to provide the resources they needed to receive a proper education.

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“NEC reviewed the implications of the recent directive to Federal Universities to remit 40 per cent of their Internally Generated Funds to the coffers of government. NEC condemns the directive in its entirety because it would further impoverish and emasculate the Nigerian university system.

“For the avoidance of doubt, universities are not revenue-generating agencies because the obligatory fees paid by students are to provide the necessary tools for them to be properly educated. NEC calls on the relevant state institutions to remove universities from this category of government ministries, departments, and agencies regarded as revenue-generating centres because of its implications for affordability and accessibility of education in the country,” the ASUU President said.

ASUU expressed dissatisfaction during the meeting, according to Anaedoonline.ng, over the Office of the Accountant General’s deliberate attempt to further impoverish its members by withholding payment for promotion arrears since 2018.

 

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