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A major confrontation is brewing between heads of tertiary institutions and the Senate Committee on Public Procurement over what the institutions describe as an “illegal and unconstitutional” attempt to directly oversee projects funded by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund.
The tension follows recent oversight visits by the Senate Committee, chaired by Emmanuel Olajide Ipinsagba, to tertiary institutions across multiple geopolitical zones, reportedly to investigate procurement processes linked to TETFund interventions.
A head of institution in the North-East/North-West, who spoke on condition of anonymity, alleged that officials attached to the committee—including the Clerk, Frederick Odey, and consultants engaged by the panel—have turned the oversight exercise into what he described as an “extortion racket.”
According to the source, the committee visited institutions in the North-East between February 9 and 12, and the North-West from February 10 to 16, 2026. The committee is currently in the South-East, with activities reportedly centred at the Federal University of Technology Owerri from February 23.
He further alleged that although the committee has constitutional authority to request procurement documents from Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), it unusually restricted its focus to tertiary institutions implementing TETFund projects.
“While the committee has powers to request procurement documents from all MDAs, this time it limited its investigation to tertiary institutions alone. We were shocked that what should have been a legitimate oversight exercise has been reduced to financial demands,” he said.
The source claimed that each institution visited was asked to remit ₦5 million through the Clerk and associated consultants, allegedly to facilitate the investigation of their TETFund projects.
“We were deeply disappointed that the committee has turned the exercise into an extortion scheme, with ₦5 million demanded from each institution under investigation,” he alleged.
He described the development as harassment and an abuse of legislative oversight powers, adding that the committee’s approach may contravene provisions of the Public Procurement Act.
Citing Clause 5 of the Act, he explained that supervisory and investigative functions over MDAs are vested in the Bureau of Public Procurement, which is mandated to report to the National Assembly.
“Ideally, the Bureau of Public Procurement submits its reports on MDAs to the National Assembly Procurement Committee. Individual MDAs may then be invited where serious infractions are identified. Conducting a sweeping direct investigation without recourse to the Bureau is unprecedented,” he stated.
He also noted that other standing committees within the National Assembly already exercise sector-specific oversight of tertiary institutions, questioning why the Public Procurement Committee would assume broad investigative powers.
Efforts to obtain responses from Senator Ipinsagba and Clerk Frederick Odey were unsuccessful, as calls to their known phone numbers were not answered as of the time of filing this report.
