UBEC Grant: Kwara gets over N7bn after 7 years of blacklist

Kwara State Government has received N7,151,142,190 grant from the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), for the first time since 2013, when the state was blacklisted from the national scheme.

This was disclosed in a statement from the Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development, Mrs Fatimah Ahmed, on Thursday in Ilorin.

According to Ahmed, N7.1bn is an accumulation of UBEC grants that were not accessed between 2014 and 2019.

“The money was not accessed because the former administration failed to pay its own counterpart funds.

“The development represents a historic feat for Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, who has spent the last one year working to reposition basic education in the state.

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“This began with the payment of N450m diverted funds, which had brought Kwara State under the hammer of the UBEC,” the commissioner said in the statement.

She added that the UBEC grants were meant for rehabilitation of dilapidated basic schools, construction of new ones, equipping the schools with ICT tools, teacher training and project evaluation, among other purposes contained in the UBEC work plan.

“This money would be spent in phases over the next two years to fix up to 600 elementary schools out of the over 1400 decrepit basic education facilities across the state.

“The projects would be monitored by UBEC to ensure compliance with the work plan submitted by the government,” Mrs Ahmed said.

The commissioner, however, noted that the development had taken Kwara State out of the bottom position in the ranking of states with highest figures of outstanding UBEC grants.

“The government, meanwhile, is organising a three-day workshop for local contractors and anyone who is interested in working with the Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board (KW-SUBEB).

“The workshop begins on Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2020.

“In compliance with the Public Procurement Act 2007, the KWSUBEB will be inviting interested registered, competent, capable and reputable contractors, to submit their pre-qualification document to tender,” Ahmed said. (NAN)