The Presidential Support Committee (PSC) has dismissed the call for probe of the activities of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) over alleged financial mismanagement as another failed attempt by some corrupt Nigerians to turn the fund into a cash cow to advance their selfish interest.
The committee stated that the National Anti-Corruption Ambassadors of Nigeria (NACAN), which made the call for TETFund probe, is being sponsored by certain individuals who want the executive secretary of the fund, Professor Elias Suleiman Bogoro, out of the way because he has blocked all channels for illicit flow of money at the Fund.
NACAN had last week urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) to probe the activities of TETFund on the ground that award of contracts is no longer on the basis of performance or competence but strictly driven by “an insatiable, inordinate plot to receive kickbacks.”
But in a statement by director of communication and strategic planning, Malam Gidado Ibrahim, the PSC urged Nigerians to ignore the call for such a probe, saying those behind are the same persons who tried in 2016 to implicate Bogoro and failed woefully after he was absolved of any wrong doing and reinstated.
Ibrahim said, “Prof Suleiman Elias Bogoro’s re-appointment on April 21, 2019 by President Muhammadu Buhari was not a mistake. For the forces of good, Professor Bogoro is all that is needed to revamp the ailing fortune of tertiary education sector in Nigeria, which had been on the downward trend in the last few decades. On the other hand, those who see TetFund as a cash cow have continued their baseless campaign of calumny against him.
“President Buhari’s decision to recall him was definitely informed by the confidence he has in the capacity and track records of the erudite scholar to rescue the nation’s education system. So far, with his humble, calm and calculative mien, Professor Bogoro has continued to prove his critics wrong.
“Time and tide have tested and proven Bogoro’s character, and investigations into the phantom and spurious allegations earlier leveled against him by this same characters crumbled like pack of cards. Now, they have come again with allegations of contracts just because the executive secretary refused to give their unqualified cronies contracts they don’t deserve.
The PSC further said it is incontrovertible that Bogoro has been highly rated having keyed into President Buhari’s fight against corruption and has won accolades as one of the incorruptible officers in recent times.
Ibrahim continued: “Those wanting to turn TETFund into a looting ground should look elsewhere. TETFund today is celebrating the impact and improved ranking of Nigerian higher institutions internationally because of the intensive interventionist approach in the nation’s tertiary institutions.
“Since Bogoro’s reappointment, TETFund has been refocused in pursuit of one of its core responsibilities of rehabilitating decaying infrastructure and the construction of new ones that are relevant to the development of learning in the nation’s public tertiary institutions.”
