President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of  Arc. Sonny Echono as the new Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).

Director, Press and Public Relations at the Federal Ministry of Education, Ben Goong, made this known in a statement he issued in Abuja on Friday.

Goong stated that Echono takes over from Prof. Sulaiman Bogoro whose five-year tenure ends on 18^th of  March .

Bogoro, who was initially appointed by former President Goodluck Jonathan in April 2014, was replaced and re-appointed.

Goong described Echono as an accomplished technocrat that would bring to the job diverse wealth of experience spanning infrastructure, business administration, procurement management, ICT and the education sector.

Prior to his appointment, Echono served as Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education and member, Board of Trustees of TETfund, among other national assignments.

He bagged a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in 1983, Masters in Architecture, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in 1985, Post-Graduate Diploma in Management from the University of Calabar.

He also holds a Masters in Procurement Management from the University of Turin, Italy, among other qualifications.

A bill seeking to make it mandatory for public officers to secure the approval of the Minister of Education before sending their children or wards to foreign schools, has been rejected again by the Nigerian House of Representatives.

The sponsor of the bill, Sergius Ogun (PDP, Ogun), had introduced a similar bill in the 8th Assembly, but the lawmakers rejected the bill.

He also sponsored a bill to make it mandatory for public officials to get medical care in Nigerian hospitals. This bill was equally rejected by the lawmakers at the time, citing breach of fundamental rights.

The bill by Ogun proposed that a public officer can only send his/her children or wards to foreign schools after approval of the Minister of Education.

It also requires that the officers must provide proof of ability to pay the school fees of his/her wards.

This bill is coming on the heels of yet another shutdown of federal universities occasioned by strike embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) over the 2009 agreements.

Section 4 of the rejected bill provides that “a public officer shall not send his ward or children oversea for studies without declaration of interest subject to approval.”

Section 6 of the bill provides the steps for getting approval. It said, “A public officer declaring interest in sending his ward or child abroad for further studies shall submit the following documents for consideration:

(a) A complete form stating the name and address of the public officer, the name and age of the child or ward, his level of education, name of intended school abroad, duration of study, and number of children studying abroad;

(b) Letter of appointment

(c) Bank statement of account

(d) Salary pay slip

(e) Declaration of assets form; and

(f) Sworn affidavit stating that he is financially capable of sponsoring his education.

Section 7 says (1) The minister shall conduct investigation to verify the authenticity of the documents submitted for approval

Section 9 of the bill provides a fine of N1 million or three years imprisonment for breach of the law.

Leading the debate on the bill, Ogun drew a nexus between the dilapidating facilities in public schools and thirst for foreign schools.

He argued that the bill has the capacity to address the resources allocation to the public schools.

He raised the concern on the outflow of scare foreign resources to finance these expenditures. The lawmaker noted that over N1 billion goes into the Ghanaian economy from Nigeria.

Chinyere Igwe (PDP, Rivers), while opposing the bill, said the content of the bill offends the spirit of the 1999 constitution which grants every Nigerian the right to move anywhere.

He stated that the Code of Conduct Act is sufficient to determine if a public officer has the means to send his/her wards to schools abroad.

Leke Abejide (ADC, Kogi) also spoke against the bill on the basis of the 1999 constitution. He argued that many have had their wards in such schools before being elected.

Others who spoke against the bill were Nicholas Ossai (PDP, Delta) and the Deputy Minority Leader, Toby Okechukwu (PDP, Enugu).

While exercising his right of reply, Ogun, who was visibly displeased with his fellow lawmakers, urged them to read the bill properly to understand the content of the bill. He noted that regulation is needed to address the challenges facing public education in Nigeria.

When the bill was put to vote, members overwhelmingly rejected it.