The Executive Secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission, Aisha Garba, has revealed that the sum of N250 billion in the coffers of the State Universal Basic Education Boards of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has not been utilised.
Garba revealed this during the inauguration of a three-day financial management training for fund managers from the State Universal Basic Education Boards across all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory on Monday.
She expressed concern over some state governments not effectively utilising SUBEB funds to enhance infrastructure and improve the conditions for teaching and learning in schools nationwide.
“The exercise offered me the opportunity to identify some of the lapses associated with the management of the UBE funds at the State level such as slow access of UBE Matching Grant, slow utilisation of the fund, non- compliance with the fund utilisation guidelines, diversion of fund, non- deduction and remittance of taxes, non-compliance with the due process in the award of contracts for the execution of basic education projects as well as non-adherence to the approved Action Plan, to mention a few,” said Garba.
She also highlighted some of the measures taken by the commission to improve the conditions of schools across the country, adding that the slow utilisation of the fund made available to states has hindered the progress of the commission’s projects.
“While the above achievement reflects a significant gain, the basic challenge remains not only accessing the remaining UBE Intervention Fund, but importantly, the slow utilisation of the fund with over N250b still being retained as unutilised in the coffers of the 36 SUBEBS & FCT-UBEB as at today,” Garba added.
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