Tertiary Institutions Complain about Senate Committee on Procurement Over Alleged ‘Illegal’ Oversight of TETFund Projects By Dally Iyamu
Tertiary Institutions Complain about Senate Committee on Procurement Over Alleged ‘Illegal’ Oversight of TETFund Projects
By Dally Iyamu
A major confrontation is brewing between several heads of tertiary institutions and the Senate Committee on Public Procurement over what the institutions have described as an “illegal and unconstitutional” attempt to directly oversee projects funded by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).
The tension follows recent oversight visits by the Senate Committee, chaired by Emmanuel Olajide Ipinsagba, to tertiary institutions across multiple geopolitical zones under the guise of investigating procurement processes linked to TETFund interventions.
A Head of Institution in the North-East/North-West region, who spoke on condition of anonymity, accused officials attached to the committee including the Clerk Mr Frederick Odey and consultants allegedly engaged by the Committee of turning the oversight exercise into what he described as an “extortion racket.”
According to him, the committee visited institutions in the North-East between February 9 and 12, and the North-West from February 10 to 16, 2026. The committee is presently in the South-East using the Federal University of Technology Owerri from February 23.
He alleged that while the committee has constitutional authority to request procurement documents from Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), it unusually narrowed its focus solely to tertiary institutions executing TETFund projects.
“Though the committee has powers to request procurement documents from all MDAs, this time it restricted itself to tertiary institutions alone. We were shocked that what should have been a legitimate oversight exercise has been reduced to financial demands,” he said.
He further alleged that each institution visited was asked to remit ₦5 million to the committee through its Clerk and associated consultants, purportedly to facilitate the investigation of their TETFund projects.
“We were deeply disappointed and surprised that the committee has sadly turned the exercise into an extortion racket, in which the Clerk and consultants request ₦5 million from each institution under investigation,” he claimed.
He described the development as harassment and an abuse of legislative oversight powers.
He also argued that the committee’s approach contravenes provisions of the Public Procurement Act.
Citing Clause 5 of the Act, he explained that the law vests supervisory and investigative functions over MDAs in the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), which is mandated to report to the National Assembly.
“Ideally, the Bureau for Public Procurement submits its reports and investigations on MDAs to the National Assembly Procurement Committee. Individual MDAs may be invited where serious infractions are identified, but conducting a sweeping direct investigation of institutions without recourse to the Bureau is unprecedented,” he stated.
He added that there are other standing committees within the National Assembly that exercise sector-specific oversight on tertiary institutions, questioning why the Public Procurement Committee would assume direct investigative powers across the board.
Efforts to obtain reactions from Senator Ipinsagba and the Clerk of the Committee Mr Frederick Odey were unsuccessful as calls placed to their known phone numbers were reportedly unanswered at the time of filing this report.
