Facts have emerged on how the government of Kwara State, in 2016, diverted part of the matching grants released to the state by UBEC...
Facts have emerged on how the government of Kwara State, in 2016, diverted part of the matching grants released to the state by the Universal Basic Education Commission instead of spending it to upgrade primary and junior secondary schools’ infrastructure as provided by the law governing the funds, and an agreement entered with UBEC.and signed on behalf of the commission’s executive secretary, Hamid Bobboyi, by the director of physical planning, Sadiq Sa’ad, the N1.
However, several states have fallen short of this provision compelling UBEC to withhold the federal government’s contribution due to such states.A source at the commission, who does not want to be named, told this reporter that the administration of the immediate past governor of Kwara State,Disappointed by the state’s action which it described as a breach of contract and trust, UBEC barred the state from accessing all funds due to it from 2014 till date.
“However, faced with hefty bank repayment from already dwindled federal allocation, which will have further pressured finances, the government terminated the loan. KWSUBEB, on the other hand, drew down on the balance of N1,045,050,604 for school rehabilitation projects. But when it became aware of the situation, UBEC demanded repayment of the N1,045,050,604.
“They have forgotten that we have our own networks for monitoring each kobo we put anywhere. So they were shocked when we confronted them with the fact of their fraud. In fact, we accused the banks of collusion and we gave them an ultimatum to either refund the entire money diverted or we would withdraw our money,” the source told PREMIUM TIMES.
“But not all the states were entitled to Paris Club refund. Four states of Kwara, Osun, Taraba and Adamawa had no refund, so there was nothing the federal government could remove from. “Since then, we have been managing these three classrooms, and as the headteacher, I no longer have an office. That is why you could see me sitting at the open field here,” Mr. Bawo explained.
The data further added that distributed across these schools are 28,345 teachers with 12,869 in primary schools; 8,979 in junior secondary schools and 6,497 across the senior secondary schools.
He said state funding is so poor that some “schools have no toilets,” “We only teach under dilapidated infrastructure. When storm blows off your school’s roofs, we rely on parent-teachers’ association for support because letters written to the ministry are never replied.”The incumbent administration said it has mapped out strategies to access the accumulated grants, claiming the N450 million the state owed has been paid.
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