Governor Bassey Otu of Cross River State has declared free tuition for all Cross Riverians in public primary and secondary schools in the state, effective from the current academic session, to cushion the effects of the removal of the subsidy on petrol.
In a memo signed by the Secretary to the State Government and Chairman of the Palliative Distribution Committee, Professor Owan Enoh, Governor Otu also exempted the payment of senior secondary school examination fees in the state beginning with the current academic session.
The memo states that all these are part of palliative measures to cushion the harsh economic reality.
In a related development, the Governor called for more funding of tertiary institutions in the state by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) to facilitate learning, research, and fast development.
He made the call in Calabar recently when the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee to investigate the alleged abuse of N2.3 trillion generated from Tertiary Education Tax by the TETFund paid a courtesy call on him.
Otu noted that the oversight and investigative nature of the committee were sensitive and urged the members to be diligent and shun any sentiments while going about the assignment.
“I have looked at the grants to tertiary institutions and note that Cross River State is the least in terms of how much has been received, and this is not good enough.
I know you are an ad-hoc committee, but your recommendations will go a long way in ensuring that tertiary institutions in Cross River get an equitable share of grants due to them,” the Governor said.
He tasked the committee members to act as ambassadors of hospitality to the people of the state and wished them all the best in their oversight assignment in the South-South Region.
Speaking earlier, the chairman of the committee, Hon. Zakaria Nyampa, said the committee was in the state as part of ongoing investigations and oversight for the humongous sum spent by the TETFund from Tertiary Education Tax over the past decade with nothing to show for it.
He assured that the committee will make every effort to ensure everything is done correctly and citizens can benefit from all taxes, especially for universities.