Federal Gov’t Increases UBEC Matching Grants To N3.5bn

The federal government has approved an upward review of the statutory allocation of Universal Basic Education matching grants accessible by state governments for infrastructural projects to N3,554,642,584.46.

The Universal Basic Education Commission executive secretary, UBEC, Dr. Hamid Bobboyi, disclosed this yesterday during a five-day financial training for SUBEB chairman and board secretaries in Ibadan, Oyo State.

He said the increased matching grants to the states were for project implementation and came from two per cent of the consolidated revenue fund allocated to support basic education in Nigeria.

Bobboyi said the approval followed the passage of the 2024 Appropriation Bill and the assent to the Bill into law.

“The 2024 Federal Government Statutory Allocation of the UBE Matching Grant to each State is N3,554,642,584.46 (Three Billion Five Hundred and Fifty-Four Million Six Hundred and Forty-Two Thousand Five Hundred and Eighty- Four Naira Forty-Six Kobo Only)”.

“The grant complies with Section 11 (2) of the UBE Act, 2004, while State governments are requested to provide an equivalent amount of N3,554,642,584.46 as counterpart fund to execute the 1st to 4th Quarters, 2024 UBE intervention projects.

He said that previously, states were getting about N1.3 billion per year as matching grants, but the grant had been jacked up to 3.3 billion.

Bobboyi urged state governments, yet to access 2023 matching grants with the commission amounting to N1,395,784,959.14 as of 1 July 2024, to do so.

“This is quite an impressive amount. You know the amount that we had before. Of course, we also must consider that inflation has affected the grants,’’ he said.

However, he acknowledged the enormous challenges before the commission and all state SUBEBs, urging them to work as a team to mop up the remaining out-of-school children in individual states.