Despite the availability of substantial funds to improve basic education, 34 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have yet to access the 2024 Universal Basic Education (UBE) matching grant, according to the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC).
Executive Secretary Hamid Bobboyi revealed this shortfall during a Senate Committee on Education (Basic and Secondary) oversight visit to UBEC’s headquarters in Abuja.
Mr. Bobboyi detailed the disbursement record for 2024, noting that only Katsina and Kaduna states had drawn from the matching grant funds for both the first and second quarters. He highlighted that similar issues with unaccessed funds have hindered progress in basic and junior secondary education in previous years.
“From the 2020 UBE matching grant, 34 states and the FCT have accessed the funds, with Abia and Ogun being the exceptions,” Mr. Bobboyi explained.
He went on to clarify the ongoing discrepancies: “For the 2021 matching grant, 33 states and FCT have accessed funds, with Abia, Imo, and Ogun lagging. By 2022, 29 states and the FCT had utilized their grants, leaving Abia, Adamawa, Anambra, Ebonyi, Imo, Ogun, and Oyo yet to access them.”
Mr. Bobboyi further outlined allocations and releases for the last two years, noting that N263 billion and N103 billion were allocated under the 2024 and 2023 Appropriation Acts, respectively.
“For 2023, we saw 100% of funds released and utilized. For 2024, we’ve achieved 83.33% release, with funds yet to be fully utilized,” he reported.
He also commended state performances by geopolitical zone, praising the North-West for fully utilizing their matching grant funds, while other regions followed with varying success. “The South-South zone accessed 97.92% of funds, North-Central 97.76%, North-East 97.57%, South-West 92.28%, and the South-East 85.37%,” he said, offering a data-driven overview of state commitment.
The Senate Committee expressed concern over the high number of out-of-school children, with Senator Victor Umeh, representing Anambra, underscoring that states with larger allocations still face high out-of-school rates, especially in the North. Senator Sunday Katung from Kaduna South added that the omission of history from the basic education curriculum was “damaging to the younger generation” and called for policy revision.
Committee Chair Lawal Usman commended UBEC’s efforts despite legislative limitations, encouraging the Commission to act on Senate recommendations made during a recent Lagos retreat. “We acknowledge UBEC’s work under its current mandate and urge implementation of agreed resolutions to maximize educational impact,” he said.
As the challenge of unutilized grants continues, UBEC officials and senators alike are calling for renewed commitment at state and local levels to address not only financial utilization but also policy obstacles affecting Nigeria’s educational future.
