UBEC Decries N250bn Unutilised Basic Education Funds Across States
Abuja, Nigeria – July 21, 2025
The Executive Secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Dr Aisha Garba, has raised an alarm over the continued retention of over ₦250 billion in unutilised intervention funds meant for the development of basic education across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Speaking on Monday during the opening of a three-day financial management training in Abuja, Dr Garba, represented by UBEC’s Deputy Executive Secretary (Technical), Mr Razaq Akinyemi, expressed disappointment at the slow pace of fund utilisation by the State Universal Basic Education Boards (SUBEBs), despite steady disbursements from the Commission.
The training, which brought together Directors of Finance, Heads of Internal Audit, and Matching Grant Desk Officers from all SUBEBs, was themed “Efficient and Effective Management of UBE Intervention Fund: A Key to Successful Basic Education Service Delivery.”
According to Garba, while the Commission has ensured the availability of matching grants to support infrastructure and service delivery in schools, many state governments have failed to access or properly utilise the funds. She attributed this to issues ranging from delays in drawing down the grants, poor compliance with utilisation guidelines, tax remittance failures, contract award irregularities, and disregard for approved action plans.
“In just six months—from January to June 2025—UBEC disbursed ₦92.4 billion in matching grants to 25 states and the FCT,” Garba said. “Additionally, ₦19 billion was released under the 2023/2024 Teacher Professional Development fund to 32 states and the FCT, while ₦1.5 billion was disbursed under the SBMC School Improvement Programme to over 1,100 communities nationwide.”
Despite these disbursements, she lamented that a significant portion of the available funds remains untouched. “As of today, over ₦250 billion is still lying unutilised in the accounts of state SUBEBs and FCT-UBEB,” she revealed.
Reflecting on her early days in office, Garba said her first major assignment after assuming duty in January 2025 was supervising the 46th financial monitoring exercise in the North Central region. “That field experience exposed several lapses, including diversion of funds, poor oversight, and a general lack of adherence to due process,” she said.
To address these challenges, the UBEC boss stated that the Commission had revised its fund utilisation guidelines, introduced a new template for preparing action plans, and approved several capacity-building initiatives—both locally and internationally—for UBEC and SUBEB staff.
“This training marks another milestone in our effort to entrench transparency, accountability, and effective resource management in the delivery of basic education,” she said.
Garba emphasised that the focus should not merely be on the amount of money disbursed but on how efficiently it is used to improve learning outcomes for Nigerian children. She encouraged participants to fully engage with the training and adopt practices that would lead to better oversight and service delivery at the grassroots.
She concluded by urging fund managers to embrace a renewed commitment to accountability and excellence. “Every naira allocated to the UBE programme must be justified in terms of impact on the learning conditions of our pupils,” she stressed.
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