How Universities, Polytechnics, Colleges Will Share N6.45bn TETFUND Intervention
- Universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education were given TETFUND allocations for 2026
- The disbursement guidelines were approved by President Bola Tinubu
- TETFUND said institutions must fully utilise existing funds to qualify for future allocations
Oluwatobi Odeyinka is a business editor at Legit.ng, covering energy, the money market, technology and macroeconomic trends in Nigeria.
The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) has announced plans to disburse N6.452 billion to 271 public tertiary institutions across Nigeria under its 2026 intervention cycle.
According to a statement by the agency, the funds are aimed at improving physical infrastructure, strengthening academic programmes, and supporting research and innovation in the country’s higher education sector.
Source: Getty Images
The disbursement follows the approval of the 2026 guidelines by President Bola Tinubu, with the funds to be released directly to beneficiary institutions nationwide, The Nation reports.
Universities get highest share
Speaking at a strategic stakeholders’ meeting in Abuja, TETFund’s Executive Secretary, Sonny Echono, said universities will receive N2.525 billion each, polytechnics N1.871 billion, while colleges of education will get N2.056 billion as annual direct intervention.
Echono explained that the total annual direct disbursement represents about 90.75 per cent of the total allocation, covering both regular and special interventions.
Allocation letters were reportedly presented to the institutions during the meeting.
He commended President Tinubu for approving the guidelines, noting that the move aligns with the administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda to reposition Nigeria’s tertiary education system.
According to Echono, the funds are designed to enhance infrastructure development, improve teaching and learning, and boost research output across universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education.
He also announced the introduction of a new intervention line for 2026 known as the Nigerian Research and Education Network (NgREN), which aims to expand access to global academic resources and integrate the TERAS digital platform into the network.
TETFUND pledges more investments in research
The TETFUND boss said the agency will continue investing in research laboratories, ICT development, agricultural facilities, and security infrastructure, while also strengthening partnerships with the private sector to improve student exposure and skills development.
Echono urged institutions to fully utilise their 2025 allocations, warning that schools with unspent funds may not qualify for future disbursements.
He added that future funding will be based on performance, enrolment, and effective utilisation of allocated resources.
He further identified delays in project approvals, procurement processes, and poor use of the TERAS platform as challenges faced in previous cycles, calling on institutions to address these issues promptly to ensure smooth implementation in 2026.
Source: Getty Images
Budget: Education ministry receives over N2trn allocation
Legit.ng earlier reported that the Ministry of Education received the sum of N2.40 trillion in budgetary allocation for 2026, making it one of the top ten ministries with the highest allocations.
President Bola Tinubu on Friday, December 19, 2025, presented the N58.47 trillion 2026 budget to a joint session of the National Assembly after it had already approved the 2026–2028 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and the Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP), which form the foundation of the budget.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFund) said that 788,947 students benefited from the federal government’s student loan scheme so far, out of a total of 1,193,228 applications submitted since the platform went live, with the total value of loan disbursement reaching N140.88 billion.
Proofreading by Funmilayo Aremu, copy editor at Legit.ng.
Source: Legit.ng
