News
TETFund Records over N60bn Revenue Decline
The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has recorded over N60 billion fall in revenue. The Executive Secretary of TETFund, Mr. Sonny Echono, disclosed this yesterday in Abuja when members of the House of Representatives Committee on Tertiary Education and Services, led by Hon. Aminu Suleiman, paid an oversight visit to the agency.
Echono, who spoke on TETFund’s operations and the state of finances, especially from 2017 to date said that last year’s collection dropped to N189 billion.
He said: “We witnessed a steady rise in collections under the education tax but unfortunately, last year, for the 2021 there was a sharp drop and that left us in a very dare position.
“For example, as I said, from N154 billion in 2017, the tax collection rose steadily to N257 billion over the years.
“So by 2020, we’ve got N257 billion, but unfortunately, last year’s collection, which is what we are using to operate this year, dropped sharply to N189 billion.
“So over N60 billion drop revenue or resources available to TETfund and the way we operate, 2021 collections were used for 2022 operations,” the TETfund boss said.
He, however, noted that given Mr. President’s commitment on increased funding for education, and with the usual support of the National Assembly, the tax rate last year was increased from 2 to 2.5%.
“But the target is that before the end of this administration, it will increase to three per cents, which is a commitment that the President has already given in writing to the Global Partnership for Education.”
Echono further commended the level of support and cooperation the Fund has enjoyed from the committee and the National Assembly, while seeking its support in effecting the amendment of the fund.
He said: “This is a major area that will be seeking the support of the National Assembly in terms of legislation.
“The other aspect is the fact that in contravention of this oversight, we also want to open our activities to independent assessment and evaluation on our behalf.
“So we have designed a monitoring and evaluation that will be involving key stakeholders, like the National Assembly, even the staff unions in our tertiary institutions, to join us do independently look at some of the things that we’re doing.”
Responding, Suleiman assured the fund of its continued support and cooperation to ensure that the system continue to work stronger.
He said: “We congratulate you and we assure you of our support, without prejudice to the fact that sometimes we can agree to disagree.
“And I’m sure you are familiar we have had quite several even when you are the permanent secretary to disagree entirely with the ministry, but not predicated on any personal motive but to share with you where I’m at with them differently from the way things are being done, and in most cases, we actually arrive at the surface.
“I have no doubt that our relationship will continue here. The essence is for us like I said to better the system.”
He said that the visit was a legislative requirement on any legislatures through various committees that a minimum of an oversight must be conducted and the periodic report submitted to the house through the culinary bureaus to discuss matters, particularly challenges that agencies and monitors of those agencies are facing.
He also directed TETFund to mandate state institutions benefiting from its interventions to submit reports of their operations within three weeks.
Suleiman said: “For about four or five months we have written to the fund asking them to invite the attention of state institutions who are benefiting from the TETFund operations to send to the committee their statement of operations as thy relates to what they have been getting from to the TETFund.
“We do not know whether it is TETfund that has not communicated to the institutions or they have not followed up on all or the institutions felt that they state institution and they are not responsible to us.
“If they didn’t they should stop funding them because they cannot collect public fund and refused to account for it, impossible, they have to account.
“If they refuse to account because they are state institutions then they should go back to the state governors and get funding which is even the right thing that is supposed to be done.
“TETFUND is supposed to be assisting but we have a situation where every governor now set up an institution and abandon it to TETfund for funding except salaries.
“I use this opportunity to advise that bodies responsible for these should ensure that within three weeks all the state’s institution complied if they did not the committee will decide whether they are entitled to continue to benefit from succession that is under the control of TETfund,” he added.
Union Bank of Nigeria has secured certification under the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) version 4.0.1, a global standard for protecting payment card data.
The certification took effect on August 11, 2026, confirming that the bank’s systems for storing, processing and transmitting customers’ credit and debit card information meet stringent international security requirements.
PCI DSS certification is designed to reduce the risk of payment card data breaches and financial fraud while strengthening customer confidence in electronic payment systems.
The assessment covered key areas of Union Bank’s operations, including network infrastructure, card issuance, ATM and POS transactions, payment processing, reconciliation, settlement, chargebacks, dispute resolution and retail banking.
Union Bank was assessed and certified under the Service Provider category.
The certification process lasted a full year and involved quarterly assessments, with support from departmental, business and functional heads across the bank. Digital security firm Digital Encode supported the process, while the final independent audit was conducted by CyberCube, an accredited Qualified Security Assessor.
Yetunde B. Oni, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Union Bank, said the certification demonstrates the bank’s commitment to protecting customer information.
“The security of our customers’ information is central to everything we do at Union Bank. This certification reaffirms that our payment systems and processes meet a rigorous global standard, and it reflects the discipline of colleagues across the Bank who work every day to keep customer data safe.”
The renewal also ensures that Union Bank maintains continuous PCI DSS certification, in line with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s requirement for banks to sustain compliance without interruption.
New data from CFA Society Nigeria is reshaping how the country’s financial sector thinks about talent development, with Access emerging as the single largest source of CFA candidates in Nigeria, distinction industry watchers say signals a deeper shift in how leading institutions are building investment expertise from within.
In its Where Nigeria’s Finance Professionals Work series, published in a national daily, CFA Society Nigeria placed Access first among employers of CFA candidates nationwide, with 82 candidates enrolled in the programme, more than double the 38 recorded at the next-placed institution and well ahead of every other bank or financial services firm on the list.
Access also ranked second among employers of CFA charterholders, with 11 professionals who have completed all three levels of the Programme and met its experience and ethics requirements.
For an industry that has long measured itself by balance sheet size and branch count, the rankings point to a different kind of competition: one over who is building the deepest bench of certified, globally credentialed talent.
CFA Society Nigeria compiled the data from its Salesforce Membership Database as at June 2026, and described the exercise as a way of recognising employers whose people “bring rigour, integrity and global best practices into the workplace every day.”
Analysts following the sector say the outcome is notable less for the ranking itself than for what it suggests about talent strategy across Africa’s financial services industry. A single institution developing more aspiring charterholders than the rest of the market combined raises the floor for professional standards nationally, not just within one balance sheet.
Every candidate who advances through the CFA Programme adds to a shared pool of ethics-trained, analytically rigorous professionals that Nigeria’s capital markets, pension funds and asset managers all eventually draw from.
Access Holdings Group Chief Executive Officer Innocent C. Ike, commenting on the rankings, framed the achievement in terms of institution-building rather than recruitment: “Every candidate on that list represents our commitment to building institutions and professionals that endure.”
The remark echoes a broader thesis increasingly voiced by market observers, that talent depth, not scale alone, is what will determine which African financial institutions earn lasting global credibility.
That distinction sits at the centre of Access’s stated ambition to become the World’s Most Respected African Financial Services Group. If the CFA numbers are any indication, the Group’s route to that goal runs less through square metres of branch network and more through the calibre of the people sitting inside it, a bet that Nigeria’s finance professionals, and the institutions that will one day hire them, are already placing alongside Access.
Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has announced plans to introduce Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) baggage tracking technology across domestic and international airport terminals to tackle the growing problem of delayed, misrouted and missing luggages
Michael Achimugu, director, Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, NCAA, disclosed this at a stakeholder engagement forum in Lagos.
Achimugu said the RFID-enabled system would replace the traditional barcode-based baggage tracking framework and provide airlines and passengers with real-time visibility of checked luggage from check-in to final collection.
According to him, the technology would improve baggage traceability, reduce mishandling and strengthen accountability across the baggage-handling chain.
Unlike conventional barcode systems, RFID technology allows baggage to be automatically scanned at multiple points without requiring direct line of sight, enabling real-time tracking of luggage throughout its journey.
Achimugu said issues involving short-landed, missing, lost or damaged baggage had remained among the major complaints from air travellers, alongside flight delays.
He said the introduction of RFID technology was therefore aimed at improving baggage-handling standards and restoring passenger confidence in the aviation sector.
The NCAA said the initiative also aligns with IATA Resolution 753, which requires airlines to track baggage at key points during the passenger journey.
The authority expects the technology to provide more accurate information on the location of luggage, facilitate quicker resolution of baggage-related complaints and improve the overall passenger experience.
The NCAA said the initiative would also strengthen accountability among airlines and other stakeholders involved in baggage handling at Nigerian airports.
FG Seeks to Half Burkina Faso’s Internet Cost while Nigerians Pay more
Cyberthreat: New Malware, Turns Phones into Tools for Card Fraud- Report
SEC Clears Blockchain for Accelerated Regulatory Incubation Programme
Union Bank Secures Global Payment Data Security Certification
NLNG, NCDMB Boost Engineering Research with Innovation Centre
EFCC Busts NIS Visa Overstay Racket, Uncovers N700m in an Account
Fact-Check: Elon Musk’s “Tesla Pi Phone” is Internet Rumor
NBC Tasks Broadcasting Stations over 2028 DSO Global Deadline
Glo Sponsored African Voices to Feature Netflix’s “The Polygamist” Stars
NBC, INEC, Plan Joint Broadcast Monitoring Framework ahead of 2027 Elections
News3 days agoNCAA to Introduce RFID Technology to Tackle Missing Luggages
General News3 days agoNigeria Not Making Progress in Fiscal Transparency –US
Telecom3 days agoGSMA Industry Services Unveils Circularity Services to Help Operators Reduce E-Waste and Unlock Value
Telecom3 days agoMTN Nigeria Unveils Y’ello Street Museum to Mark 25 Years of Connectivity
Telecom2 days agoAirtel Nigeria Adds Over 1,000Cell Sites in Nationwide Expansion to Surpasses 17,000
News3 days agoFirm Urges MSMEs to Increase Digital Payments Adoption for Growth
E-Financial3 days agoSEC Directs Operators to Subscribe to NigSac Alerts, Freeze Terrorists-Linked Funds
E-Financial3 days agoAFC Raises $430m in Digital Bond to Deepens Digital Financial Infrastructure