Yobe and 26 other states, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), have deposited a total of N32.5 billion counterpart funds with the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) as of March 28, 2024.
This development enables the states to access the yearly disbursement provided by the Federal Government through UBEC for the development of basic education. The fund aims to improve the quality of basic education in all 36 states.
Each state government is responsible for providing 50% of the counterpart fund to match the annual disbursement provided by UBEC.
According to a document signed by UBEC’s Director of Finance, Adamu Misau, the states that have lodged their counterpart funds include Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kaduna, Sokoto, Zamfara, Borno, Gombe, Taraba, Yobe, Kogi, Nasarawa, Niger, Plateau, FCT, Ekiti, Lagos, Ondo, Osun, Enugu, Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross-River, Delta, Edo, and Rivers states.
However, some states, including Adamawa and Bauchi, have failed to access the funds from 2022 and 2023, while others, like Benue, Kwara, and Niger states, owe an accumulated sum of N2.6 billion individually due to their failure to access the intervention funds in 2022 and 2023.
The total amount unaccessed by states in 2020 stood at N1.4 billion, N2.8 billion in 2021, N14.4 billion in 2022, and N36.1 billion in 2023. Ogun State remains one of the highest debtors, having failed to access intervention funds from 2020 to 2023, totaling N4.2 billion.
