President Bola Tinubu has cancelled the 40 percent automatic deductions from Internally Generated Revenues, IGR, of federal universities.
The President said the policy is currently inappropriate.
Tinubu, who was represented by the Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, disclosed this on Friday, November 17, at an ongoing 75th Founder’s Day ceremony at the University of Ibadan, UI.
In his speech, Tinubu pledged his commitment to the reform of the education sector as the base for national development.
Tinubu said, “The 40 percent IGR automatic deduction policy stands cancelled. This is not the best time for such policy since our universities are struggling.”
Earlier in his welcome address, the UI Chancellor and Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’adu Abubakar, had condemned the policy, citing the multidimensional challenges confronting the universities.
Abubakar urged the authorities to abrogate the decision, saying the policy had the potential of jeopardising the university system.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, had said the Federal Government’s plan to automatically deduct 40 percent from universities’ Internally Generated Revenue will impoverish the university system.
In October 2023, the Ministry of Finance notified academic institutions across Nigeria of its plan to automatically deduct 40 percent from their IGR.
ASUU, in a statement signed by its National President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, explained that universities were not revenue-generating agencies, saying that the obligatory fees paid by students were to provide the necessary tools for them to be properly educated.
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