16 states fail to access N45.7b UBEC funds 

Sixteen states have failed to access the sum of N45.7 billion basic education fund provided by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC). 
 
Executive Secretary of UBEC, Dr Hamid Bobboyi, said the matching grants to states were for implementation of Universal Basic Education (UBE) between 2020 and 2023. 
   
Bobboyi made this known on Wednesday when he received members of the Federal House of Representatives Committee on Basic Education and Services, on oversight visit to the Commission in Abuja. 
   
He listed the states to include Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Enugu, Jigawa, Kano, Kwara, Nasarawa Niger, Ondo, Osun, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba and Zamfara. Bobboyi stated that this represents 41 per cent of the appropriated N51.6 billion.
   
According to him, the sum of N51.6 billion was appropriated by the Federal Government as matching grant to states in 2023, explaining that only N21 billion was accessed by the 16 states as of June 30, 2024. 

He lamented that some state governments lacked political will and commitment to basic education issues, saying this further exacerbated the menace of out-of-school children in the country. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) had said 20.2 million children and youths are out of school in Nigeria. 
   
Responding, the chairman, House Committee on Universal Basic Education and Services, Mark Useni, described the about 20-year-old UBEC Act as obsolete and inadequate to address the emerging challenges of basic education in Nigeria; hence the urgent need to amend the law. 

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