Groups begins nationwide tour of TETFund Projects

No fewer than 42 civil society groups have announced that they will embark on an inspection tour of TETFund projects across the country.

The groups, under the auspices of the Centre for Accountability and Transparency in Nigeria( CATIN), said this is the first in a series of tours to ministries, department and agencies.

In a statement signed by John Oriri Ali, the groups said the essence of this exercise is to appraise the performances of the MDAs with the view of enhancing accountability, service delivery, and good governance.

Ali added that it is also necessary to separate facts from fiction, mediocre from excellence, and results from oversights.

He said the choice of TETFUND is due to the reports of some groundbreaking feats by its Executive Secretary, Sonny Echono in less than two years on the job.

Ali said that from the information on the ground, the revered architect has transformed Nigeria’s Tertiary Education Fund with a dint hard work, courage, and clear-minded focus.

He added that there have been procurement and project management reforms at the agency, eliminating corruption, the delivery time of projects, and cost escalation while improving general efficiency in the discharge of the Fund’s mandate.

“It is all over the news that TETFund is now known for timely and quality execution of projects, especially structures. It is said that the Echono’s training as an architect is the game-changer,” Ali said.

“However, sources say this is linked to his wide experience in public service, being one of the nation’s pioneering procurement officers who saw to the development of the procurement system that has come to change the narrative in public offices.

“Projects are now well planned, packaged, and selected by the beneficiary institutions for review and concurrence of the Fund. No more TETFund or vendor-promoted projects, as the needs of the institutions prevail. ”

Ali further revealed that after the exercise, a detailed report will be made public to Nigerians on how the tertiary agency has fared under Echono.