Buhari Approves Upward Review Of Education Tax To 2.5 Per Cent

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved an upward review of Education Tax from two per cent to 2.5 per cent.

Executive Secretary of Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Arc. Sonny Echono, made this known on Sunday, when he received Plateau Governor, Simon Lalong on a courtesy visit to his office in Abuja.

Echono said this would enable TETFund to cope with increasing demands, which Tribune Online gathered is the increasing number of public tertiary institutions being established by both Federal and State Governments.

He equally urged the universities and other tertiary institutions to produce graduates that are entrepreneurs and self-reliant, in order to reduce the rising graduate unemployment in the country.

Echono noted that focusing on investments in creating entrepreneurs would go a long way to addressing the menace of unemployment and consequently tackle the socio-economic problems prevalent in the country.

He added that one of his primary goals is to make tertiary institutions a place to produce entrepreneurs noting that with the support of the Federal Government, TETFund plans to reinforce the huge investments in the 13 new universities to fast-track their rate of progress with a view to achieving the purpose of establishing them.

According to him, the current administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has greatly given full support to education adding that “this is evident in the recent Presidential approval of upward review of Education Tax from 2 per cent to 2.5 per cent, which will enable TETFund to cope with increasing demands.”

The TETFund boss expressed optimism that the Education Tax would likely increase to 3per cent as the government continues to prioritise educational investment.

This investment, Echono emphasised would go into expanding the frontiers of education and the way education is structured in the country.

“The increased tax would facilitate the implementation of more developmental projects in the education sector,” he said.

The Executive Secretary, expressed appreciation at the show of support from Governor Lalong while pledging continued commitment to the development of tertiary education in the state.

Governor Simon Lalong in his remark, commended the fund for the numerous iconic projects dotting the tertiary institutions in Plateau State, saying TETFund has become a lifeline for the public tertiary institutions in Nigeria.

He appealed for continuity of the good work by the Fund expressing his appreciation for its contribution to the development of education in the state and the northern region of Nigeria at large.

The Governor expressed optimism that the newly appointed Executive Secretary of the Fund, who he described as an educationist, with his track record as Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Education would keep up the good work of his predecessor, Prof Suleiman Bogoro, who the Governor added that made a lot of impact in the development of tertiary institutions across Nigeria.

He said as the Chairman of the Northern Governors Forum, he would make sure the Executive Secretary get the support of other northern governors.

The Director’s office of the Executive Secretary, Uchendu Wogu, in a vote of thanks, noted that all the good works by TETFund as identified by the Governor were the mandate of the Agency, which is obligatory to fulfil.

He expressed gratitude to the institutions in the State for their transparency in utilising their allocated funds, making it possible to attract more funds for the development of the institutions.