NASS must empower AGoF to enforce UBEC funding — Falana
HUMAN rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, yesterday, urged the National Assembly to amend the Constitution to empower the Accountant-General of the Federation to deduct from source the counterpart fund payable by every state government to the Universal Basic Education Fund, UBEC. In his keynote address at the out-of-school summit, convened by the IA-Foundation, held in Lagos, Falana said by enforcing the counterpart fund payable by every state government to UBEC, it will eradicate illiteracy in the country. He said: “In June last year, the Executive Secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission, UBEC, Mr Hamid Bobboyi bemoaned the refusal of state governments to provide counterpart funding and access the annual matching grants given by the commission to develop their basic education system. The commission was particularly concerned that about N110 billion of the intervention funds accessed from UBEC were not utilised by the states in 2021, with the money left in the coffers of...