Federal government Cancels 40% IGR Deduction From Varsities

President Bola Tinubu has announced the cancellation of the automatic deduction of 40 percent from federal universities’ Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).
The Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, revealed the president’s decision during his speech at the 75th Founder’s Day ceremony of the University of Ibadan (UI).
In October, the Ministry of Finance notified academic institutions nationwide of its plan to automatically deduct 40 percent from their IGR.
The move attracted a lot of criticism, mostly from the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and other stakeholders, who said it was ill-advised and retrogressive.
ASUU, in a statement signed by its National President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, explained that universities were not revenue-generating agencies for the government.
It also reminded the government that the obligatory fees paid by students were to provide the necessary tools for them to be properly educated.
Osodeke noted that the policy will impoverish the university system.
The Committee of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities had written a protest letter to the Federal Government, demanding that the government rescind the plan, adding that the government could not be demanding 40 percent of varsities IGR when it had refused to grant them autonomy.
Also, at the just concluded 19th All Nigeria Editors Conference (ANEC) held in Uyo, Akwa-Ibom State, the editors, during the presentation of the Minister of Finance and Co­ordinating Minister, Wale Edu via zoom, asked for the moral justification of the government decision on the 40 percent IGR deduction at such a hard time when every Nigerian is suffering from the backlash of fuel subsidy removal.
Edun, who must have been apparently cut unaware, lacking substantive facts to defend the government, was unable to justify the proposal. He said he wondered if the editors who were supposed to understand the government’s plight on this proposal did not know, “how would you be able to explain this to the people?”
In a dramatic volte-face on Friday, Tinubu conceded that the policy implementation was ill-timed.
He said, “The 40 percent IGR automatic deduction policy stands cancelled. This is not the best time for such a policy since our universities are struggling.”
Reacting to the news, the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) commended President Bola Tinubu for discarding the idea of tertiary institutions, including colleges of education, remitting 40 percent of their internally generated revenue to the national treasury.
President of COEASU, Smart Olugbeko who stated this in a statement on Monday, enjoined the federal government to also review the centralization of payroll administration through the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).
He lamented that the policy undermines the statutory functions of the governing councils and breaches the establishment integrity of the tertiary education sector in general and the college of education system in particular.
According to Olugbeko, IPPIS has become a means of defrauding COEASU members, as there are thousands of cases of short-payment, outright non-payment, unlawful delay, and/or withholding of third-party deductions.