The Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), has expressed concerns over the inability of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory to access its N41.06 billion matching grant.
The grant, according to the Commission, had been lying idle in its account as of March 8, 2021.
The Executive Secretary of UBEC, Dr Hamid Bobboyi, who expressed the Commission’s concerns when he received members of the Senate Committee on Basic and Secondary Education at the Commission’s office on Thursday in Abuja, said about N143 billion matching grant was accessed by states and the FCT from 2017 to 2020, out of the N184.8 billion that was made available by the Commission.
Bobboyi said that no state had accessed the 2020 matching grant, adding that only Ogun State had yet to access its 2018 allocations just as 10 other states had not also taken delivery of their 2019 grants as of March 8, 2020.
He listed the states to include Kebbi, Niger, Ogun, Enugu, Anambra, Ebonyi, Imo, Edo, Abia and Lagos, but added that Abia, Lagos and Kebbi had in a few days lodged their payments.
Bobboyi, who lamented the several challenges affecting the basic education sector, said UBEC was appropriated 29.7 billion in the 2020 budget for capital projects with N1.3 billion for Federal Teacher Scheme; Constituency Zonal Intervention Projects (ZIP) – N2.8 billion and Constituency projects (Capital) – N25. 6 billion.
He said that N29. 75 billion representing 99.2 percent, was released to the Commission as of December 2020.
He stated that out of the capital releases, the Commission awarded contracts to the tune of N27.5 billion for 2,895 constituency projects across the country, adding that 939 of such projects have been completed while 1,956 are ongoing.
Bobboyi, according to a report by Forefront magazine, said that the projects cut across classroom construction, renovation and supplies of education items.
The UBEC Executive Secretary was also quoted to have said; “30 states and FCT have implemented 2018 (matching grant projects), six states namely; Anambra, Imo, Kaduna, Kwara, Ogun and Plateau are yet to implement, eight states have implemented 2019 matching grants projects, 28 states and FCT are yet to implement. In 2020, no state implemented the matching grants projects.”
Earlier, the acting Chairman of the Senate Committee on Basic and Secondary Education, Senator Akon Eyakenyi, said the team was at UBEC to assess its activities in line with the mandate of the Senate.
Eyakenyi said; “UBEC is a major agency under this Committee because the foundation of education begins with UBEC. If we miss it at that level it will be difficult to get it right.”
On his part, a member of the committee and former Governor of Imo State, Senator Rochas Okorocha, according to the Forefront magazine report, described as “an embarrassment the 13.4 million out-of-school children in the country.”
He called for the establishment of emergency schools in the northern part of the country to tackle the problem.
Former governor of Nasarawa State, Senator Umaru Al-makura called on UBEC to establish special schools in all the states in the country.
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