TETFund refutes corruption allegations on Echono, says its reforms are treading on toes

The Higher Education Fund (TETFund) has dismissed allegations of contract and procurement fraud made against its executive secretary, Arc Sonny Echono, which were posted on a online media.

TETFund has said the allegations are baseless and a ploy to deflect the Executive Secretary from implementing certain reforms within the Fund which are intended to reposition him.

A response titled "Worried In Nigerian Education Agency, TETFund over contract fraud, procurement is corruption hits back as Echono implements sweeping reforms" by Acting Director, Public Affairs Tetfund , Abdulmumin Oniyangi, said that the allegations which are far from the truth show that the reform to the fund is walking on long toes.

"The attention of the Tertiary Education Management Trust Fund (TETFund) has been drawn to a Sahara Reporters publication dated July 20, 2022 entitled "Disquiet in Nigeria Education Agency, TETFund over Contracts Fraud, Procurement Racket, Others under New Head, Sonny Echono.”

"In said report, it was alleged that the Executive Secretary of the TETFund had turned the Fund into a fiefdom where contract splitting and padding were the order of the day," the rejoinder reads.

Oniyangi further stated that Echono has frozen, canceled or suspended programs and advice deemed unnecessary or economically disadvantageous to the Fund.

He said some of those affected were licking their wounds while a few who initially threatened legal action simply renegotiated after realizing their weak positions.

"The 99-man Technical Advisory Group (TAG) has been put on notice to be scaled for greater caution and operational efficiency. The Executive Secretary is indeed walking on long toes and the expected response is to question his qualification for the position for which none of his five (5) predecessors (3 academics and 2 technocrats) were better prepared.”

"Perhaps more problematic are the procurement and project management reforms introduced to eliminate corruption, reduce project delivery times, prevent cost escalation and improve overall effectiveness in delivering the Fund's mandate. Under the new exemption, all projects to be executed by the Fund must be planned, presented and selected by the beneficiary institutions for review and approval by the Fund. No more TETFund or vendor-promoted projects, as institutional needs will prevail.

He explained that "The annual disbursement stipends were disbursed directly to recipient institutions in a public ceremony held at the National Universities Commission (NUC) on May 9, 2022. The Vice Chancellors , provosts and rectors were directed to advertise and secure their projects through open and competitive bidding to optimize resources.

"This was widely reported in the media and praised by the Association of Procurement Professionals of Nigeria, along with the threat to punish offending contractors who delay project execution or supply shoddy work. Hardly the stuff of a roller and a dealer.

"It is therefore laughable that these measures are described by some aggrieved interest groups as 'unsound practices'. Equally instructive is the fact that TETFund is not a contracting body on behalf of recipient institutions, so the reference to contract splitting and padding is completely baseless and incomprehensible. Project design and costing are done by the respective institutions. The same goes for supervision and management. TETFund only monitors achievement of milestones before releases in installments. »

Furthermore, he stated that "to allege that someone who has publicly distributed award letters" has a habit of requesting an advance payment in dollars before grants are awarded. granted" is an upside-down truth. It is common knowledge that since resuming his duties, Arc Echono has not personally delivered any grant or letter to any beneficiary institution but rather through the technical services responsible for each area of ​​intervention.

It is indeed cruel to insinuate that Vice-Chancellors will be happy to meet monetary demands without complaint, and the same Vice-Chancellors will be responsible for awarding contracts to anointed contractors. When people are consumed by evil and hatred, logic goes away. It should be noted that no institution or Vice-Chancellor has been cited to support or corroborate this callous claim.

"Equally curious is the claim that Arc Echono has a list of anointed companies that run TETFund projects, but the author did not even mention only one of them for fear of a rebuttal.It has even been claimed that his control of TETFund contracts preceded his appointment judging by the singular example of a twin amphitheater at a university...