UBEC decries unutilised N68bn for basic education improvement

Ini Billie, Uyo

The Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) has stated that N68 billion in funds allocated to states for improving basic education in Nigeria remains unutilised.

The amount was mentioned on Thursday in Uyo during a two-day training workshop for South-South States Universal Basic Education Boards Directors and Desk Officers of the Department of Physical Planning.

Speaking during the training, UBEC’s Executive Secretary, Aisha Garba, attributed the failure of states to meet the basic requirements for accessing the dormant funds to complexities caused by slow utilisation and systemic inefficiencies.

Aisha, who her Special Assistant, Ibrahim Gold, represented, said the revised Basic Education Action Plan (BEAP) template would erase the bottlenecks that induced the failure of states to access the funds.

Calling on the participants to embrace the revised BEAP template, the executive secretary stated that the new template, which was officially unveiled at a meeting in Makurdi on May 25, 2025, was revised to champion results-based planning and financial accountability.

Accordingly, she stated that the workshop aims to bring the new tools and support systems directly to SUBEB Directors and Desk Officers of the Department of Physical Planning, responsible for the planning and execution of action plans in their various states.

“This capacity building workshop is in line with reforms, especially in the area of developing work plans to access the UBE Intervention Funds.

“The thinking in the Commission is to have only one work plan for the different envelopes of the intervention funds, i.e. Matching Grants, Teacher Professional Development, Special Needs, etc. 

“Therefore, the need to come up with workable and user-friendly templates for the preparation of work plans to replace the existing one that has been in operation for over two decades,” she stated.

While applauding the workshop performance held for Northern States in Kano, Aisha Garba urged participants in the South-South to come up with a better performance rating.

In their separate remarks, UBEC’s Director of Physical Planning, Sadiq Saiad, and the Executive Chairman, Akwa Ibom SUBEB, Dr Aniette Etuk, urged participants to pay attention to details to understand the intended purpose of the workshop.