By Halimah Olamide
President has on Friday given an order reversing the directive for the deduction of 40% revenue from the internally generated revenues of universities in the country.
The Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, conveyed the president’s decision during his speech at the 75th Founder’s Day ceremony of the University of Ibadan (UI) on Friday, November 17.
In October, the Ministry of Finance notified academic institutions nationwide of its plan to automatically deduct 40 per cent from their IGR.
The Federal Government, in a letter dated October 17, 2023, titled ‘Implementation of 40% automatic deduction from internally generated revenue of partially funded federal government institutions,’ said it would begin the deduction with effect from November 2023.
The letter signed by the Accountant-General of the Federation, Mrs. Oluwatoyin Madein, Director of Revenue and Investment, Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, Felix Ore-ofe Ogundairo, said the auto-deduction policy of gross IGR was in line with the Finance Circular with reference number FMFBNP/OTHERS/IGR/CRF/12/2021 dated December 20, 2021.
The move was widely condemned, especially by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), and other stakeholders, who said it was ill-advised and retrogressive.