The Federal Government has directed all tertiary institutions to submit comprehensive reports on unutilised intervention funds received from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund within 30 days, saying “sanctions will be imposed on institutions that fail to utilise funds effectively.”

The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, gave the directive in Abuja on Thursday during a meeting with heads of tertiary institutions.

Alausa expressed concern over the huge sums of TETFund allocations that remain unspent across universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education, saying the situation has stalled infrastructural and academic development.

“Institutions must submit reconciled reports of all unutilised funds within 30 days, which will be jointly verified. Unused funds may be redirected to priority projects, and carrying them over without strong justification will no longer be allowed,” Alausa warned.

He added that procurement plans must align with approved interventions and urged institutions to fast-track approval processes to avoid project delays.

To ensure accountability, the minister said the government would introduce quarterly compliance reviews and capacity-building programmes to strengthen project management and reporting.

He also announced plans for a public dashboard displaying disbursement and utilisation data, alongside a requirement for institutions to publish project progress reports.

“Sanctions will be imposed on institutions that fail to utilise funds effectively. TETFund must enforce compliance and ensure transparency, while institutional heads should drive urgency and accountability,” he said.

TETFund had earlier expressed concern over the rising volume of unaccessed and unutilised funds by tertiary institutions. As of July 2025, the agency threatened to delist defaulting institutions and divert their allocations to those with a record of prompt utilisation.

Under the 2025 intervention cycle, TETFund allocated N1.6tn to Nigerian tertiary institutions for projects in campus security, direct interventions, and healthcare infrastructure.