•Falana
Legal luminary, Femi Falana, SAN, has told Vice Chancellors of Nigerian universities to ignore the summons of House of Representatives Committee on TETFUND and Other Services, which asked them to provide details on TETFUND intervention details.
In a statement yesterday, Falana said, “In justifying the request, the House Committee announced its plan to exercise its oversight power to ensure compliance with the Fund Guidelines and Establishment Act pursuant to section 80(3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended and the Standing Orders of the House.”
According to the legal giant, “It has been alleged that the invitation is designed to extort money from the heads of tertiary institutions by the Committee. Even though the serious allegation has not been denied by the leadership of the House of Representatives, it is pertinent to point out the House Committee lacks the power to review the Tetfund Guidelines and Establishment Act under Section 80(3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended in any material particular.
“It is common knowledge that the budget of the Federal Ministry of Education was part of the 2024 Appropriation Bill passed by the National Assembly and signed into law by President Bola Tinubu last December. Furthermore, the Standing Orders of the House of Representatives cited by the Committee are not binding on the heads of tertiary institutions in Nigeria. To that extent, the House Committee of the House lacks the power to subject any aspect of the 2024 Appropriation Act to further scrutiny.
“However, the power of the House to conduct an inquiry into allegations of corruption or the management of the fund appropriated by the National Assembly under Section 88 of the Constitution does not include the power of the House Committee on Tetfund and Other Services to summon heads of tertiary institutions in Nigeria to submit the 2024 Tetfund Intervention Details.”
