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Over 137 Scholars Sponsored Abroad Absconded — TETFund Secretary, Sonny Echono

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  • Board may suspend foreign scholarships

Over 137 of the fund’s sponsored students who were studying abroad, according to Sonny Echono, executive secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), have absconded.

During his Tuesday appearance before the House of Representatives’ special committee looking into the alleged “abuse” of the N2.3 trillion tertiary education tax by TETFund, Echono gave a speech.

The executive secretary claimed that after completing their courses, the TETFund-sponsored scholars who were sent abroad for “higher education” refused to come back.

“Some of the scholars that have been sponsored, unpatriotically when they go, they enjoy our scholarship, acquire a higher degree, then refuse to come back. It has become a major crisis,” he said.

“The scholarship requires that you will come back. It is required that you have a guarantor and in many cases, the guarantor has suffered undue hardship because when you disappear, we hold the guarantor to pay all the money expended on your behalf but that has not been effective.”

Echono said TETFund is working with stakeholders for “stringent and effective measures” to be taken against those who refuse to return to the country for Nigerians to benefit from their expertise.

“We believe that in a system where we work with our embassies and the institutions, we can enforce the repayment for those who insist they will not come back,” he said.

The executive secretary said if the scholars who don’t want to return to the country refuse to repay the money expended on their programs, they will be declared persona non grata.

“We will write to the embassies and they will make it available to those countries and they will not be able to get jobs. They will be seen as fugitives of law from their countries,” Echono said.

“We may have to take that hard stand because the numbers are alarming. We just checked about 40 institutions and over 137 absconders and the review is ongoing.

“It is a huge number that we cannot afford and so we will be seeking your support to strengthen some of the existing regulations to ensure that those who benefit from this program must come back.

“We are not against people looking for greener pastures but do so on your own, not through our scholarship or our sponsorship.”

The executive secretary said TETFund may suspend foreign scholarship due to the exchange rate crisis.

Echono said that some of the taxes are paid to TETFund in foreign currencies at the account domiciled with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) but when fees are to be paid for scholars abroad, the apex bank insists on TETFUND sourcing forex by itself.

“We operate a system where our forex is being sold on our behalf at an official rate and we apply like anybody else to get it, sometimes it leads to additional cost,” he said.

“Currently as I speak, we are in consultations with all our stakeholders to suspend foreign training for a year or two.

“This is because of the recent exchange rate adjustments. We are unable to continue based on our disbursement guidelines.

“The money we allocated in naira cannot cover the dollar requirement for training. For those who are currently there, we now need more naira to pay for the dollar that is required for their annual fees. We are trying to put a hold.”

He said most of our training will now be done locally through “our experienced, first-generation universities and other specialized universities” in the country.

“This way we can retain our resources in-house and cope with the change of foreign exchange variation,” he said.

Echono also said the federal government was owning TETFund N371.3 billion out of which it has repaid N46 billion so far.

The executive secretary denied the allegations that TETFund mismanaged funds to the tune of N2.3 trillion.

Meanwhile, Oluwole Oke, chairman of the committee, said the probe is not to witchhunt, adding that the lawmakers are out to stop the misuse of public funds.

BIG STORY

CBN Orders Suspension Of Charges On Cash Deposits

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Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued a circular, dated May 6, 2024, directing banks to suspend the collection of processing fees on cash deposits until September 30, 2024.

The circular, signed by the Director of Banking Supervision, Adetona Adedeji, was issued in response to concerns raised by bank customers over the collection of processing fees for cash deposits that began on May 1.

Banks were previously required to charge two percent on deposits above NN500,000 for individuals, and two percent on deposits above N3m for corporate account holders.

However, the CBN has now instructed financial and non-financial institutions to suspend these charges until the end of September 2024. This move is expected to ease the financial burden on bank customers and promote cash deposits in the country.

“Please refer to our letter dated December 11, 2023, referenced BSD/DIR/PUB/LAB/016/023 on the above subject, suspending processing charges imposed on cash deposits above N500,000 for Individuals and N3,000,000 for corporates as contained in the “Guide to Charges by Banks, Other Financial Institutions and Non-Bank Financial Institutions” issued on December 20, 2019,” CBN said.

“The Central Bank of Nigeria hereby extends the suspension of the processing fees of two per cent and three per cent previously charged on all cash deposits above these thresholds until September 30, 2024.”

The apex bank directed financial institutions to continue to accept all cash deposits from the public without any charges till the end of the third quarter.

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President Tinubu Returns From Trips To Netherlands, Saudi Arabia

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Nigeria’s President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has returned to Nigeria after trips to The Netherlands and Saudi Arabia.

On April 22, Tinubu departed Abuja for the Kingdom of The Netherlands on an official visit.

According to presidential spokesperson Ajuri Ngelale, Prime Minister Mark Rutte invited the president to visit The Netherlands.

Following his commitments in the Netherlands, Tinubu travelled to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on April 28 and 29, where he attended a special gathering of the World Economic Forum (WEF).

Bayo Onanuga, special adviser on information and strategy to the president, had said the president and his aides will return to Nigeria on Wednesday.

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, along with his aides, will return to Nigeria tomorrow from Europe,” Onanuga wrote.

On Wednesday, Onanuga confirmed the president’s return by tweeting: “Welcome home Mr. President.”

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How I Killed My Sugar Mummy Over N100,000 — Murder Suspect, Akpoveta School

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The suspect arrested in connection with the murder of a lady, Glory Akpaku, in Delta State, Akpoveta School, has narrated how he allegedly killed the victim by stabbing her multiple times.

According to an interrogation video shared on X (formerly known as Twitter) by the Delta State Police Public Relations Officer, Bright Edafe, on Monday, the suspect disclosed that the victim was his sugar mummy before her demise.

It was gathered from the video that things went south between Akpoveta and the late Akpaku over the sum of N100,000 he allegedly kept with the deceased for safekeeping, but which the deceased allegedly refused to give him when he needed the money.

The suspect claimed that he had gone to Akpaku to demand the money but, instead of receiving it, she insisted that she would give it to him after returning from the market.

The suspect narrated further that he threatened the victim to report their relationship to her son, but the victim threatened back that if he did so, she would not give him the money in her custody.

He added that the threat from his alleged lover infuriated him, which led him to stab her with a knife in the neck, hand, and stomach.

Akpoveta narrated in pidgin English (now translated), “She asked me to save some money with her and that she would return the money to me later. But when I needed the money, she refused to give it to me. Rather, she became angry.

“She asked me to escort her to the market, and I thought she would give me the money, but she insisted that she would give it to me after she returned from the market.

“I told her that I would tell her child, and she said if I told the child, she would not return my money. While she was going in front, I took a knife that I had with me and stabbed her in the neck, hand, and stomach.”

The suspect stated further that he regretted his action but blamed the devil for it.

Reacting to the confession, Edafe urged members of the public to learn from it.

The PPRO wrote, “I share stories like this so we can learn from the mistakes of others. So this suspect allegedly murdered his sugar mummy over her failure to give him back the money she was helping him save. When asked why he did it, he said, ‘NA DEVIL WORK’.”

Meanwhile, giving further updates on the incident, the PPRO noted that the incident happened in April and the suspect would be charged in court upon the conclusion of the ongoing investigation.

“The incident happened in April. He will be charged in court as soon as the investigation is concluded,” Edafe concluded.

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