The Senate has passed for second reading the Bill seeking to amend the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) Act, 2011(SB 428) to include the Nigerian Law School as one of the Academic Institutions to benefit from the interventions of the Fund.
Leading the debate on the Bill at the plenary session of Wednesday, 25 November 2020, Sen. Michael Opeyemi Bamidele (APC: Ekiti), informed lawmakers that the Nigerian Law School which is the only institution responsible for the training of lawyers in Nigeria should also be beneficiaries of the education tax disbursed by TETFund.
According to Sen. Bamidele, the Bill also seeks to amend section 20 of the Act to reflect a new interpretation of the word “tertiary institution” to mean Universities, the Nigerian Law School, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education. He stated that the intervention funds to be disbursed will improve the condition of practice for lawyers by providing facilities that create an improved learning environment.
The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) which was established in 2011, is charged with the responsibility of imposing, managing and disbursing the Education Tax to public tertiary institutions in Nigeria.
The Bill has been referred to the Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFund for further legislative scrutiny.
