President Bola Tinubu has reversed the contentious decision to deduct 40% of Internally Generated Revenues from federal universities nationwide.

Speaking at the 75th Founder’s Day ceremony of the University of Ibadan, the President, represented by the Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, deemed the policy implementation "ill-timed" and emphasized that it was inappropriate given the current challenges faced by universities.

Tinubu, in his capacity as the Visitor to the university, expressed his dedication to reforming the nation's education sector, recognizing its pivotal role in national development.

He said, “The 40 per cent IGR automatic deduction policy stands cancelled. This is not the best time for such a policy since our universities are struggling.”

As per a report by the media the Federal Government, through a letter dated October 17, 2023, titled ‘Implementation of 40% automatic deduction from internally generated revenue of partially funded federal government institutions,’ has announced the commencement of the 40% automatic deduction from internally generated revenue (IGR) of partially funded federal government institutions, effective from November 2023.

The letter, signed by the Accountant-General of the Federation, Mrs Oluwatoyin Madein, and Felix Ore-ofe Ogundairo, Director of Revenue and Investment at the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, cited the Finance Circular with reference number FMFBNP/OTHERS/IGR/CRF/12/2021 dated December 20, 2021, as the basis for the auto-deduction policy of gross IGR.

In response, the Committee of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities has written a protest letter to the Federal Government, urging a reconsideration of the plan to deduct 40% of the Internally Generated Revenues of federal universities.

Prof. Yakubu Ochefu, the Secretary-General of the Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities, conveyed this stance in a phone interview, emphasizing that the government's demand for 40% of universities' IGR was unjustified, especially considering the lack of autonomy granted to the universities.

Ochefu warned that if the Federal Government proceeds with the policy, parents would bear the consequences, noting that the Finance Act 2020 stipulates the remittance of 40% to the FG only in the presence of a surplus, which is not the case for universities reliant on user charges rather than profits or revenues.

He said, “If you look at the Act, it didn’t say 40% IGR, but a surplus. So, who determines what is surplus? The Finance Act of 2020 is explanatory, and it is the institution that is supposed to decide and send you the surplus if there is any."

"But FG says it now wants to deduct it from the source. We have protested and written to the Ministry of Education. If they insist, it means they want to ground the universities to a halt. Or we will be forced to add the 40 per cent to what we are charging the end users and these end users are complaining already. We told the Ministry of Education to write the Ministry of Finance to halt the development. The letter was written on Thursday.”

Concurrently, the Academic Staff Union of Universities protested the mandate for public tertiary institutions to submit forty percent of their IGR to FG.

In a statement released after its National Executive Meeting, ASUU—whose president, Emmanuel Osodeke, signed it—claimed that the decision would make the already publicly funded universities even poorer.