The Director, System Study and Review Department at the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Abuja, Mr. Abbia Udofia has appealed to the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), the States Board (SUBEB) and stakeholders to safeguard and manage public resources with integrity and according to relevant laws.
Udofia made the appeal while presenting a paper titled: ‘Accountability and transparency in UBEC Projects and Programmes’ during a training workshop for State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) Executive Chairmen from the 36 States and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, which held at Lagos Business School, Lekki.
He advised the chairmen and boards of SUBEB to read and understand the anti-corruption laws, especially, the Public Procurement Act 2007.
Also, the Executive Secretary, UBEC, Dr. Hamid Bobboyi charged the SUBEB chairmen to address the issues of corruption, lack of furniture and quality teachers.
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UBEC, SUBEB charged to manage public resources with integrity
The UBEC boss stressed the need to re-strategise to enhance better service delivery while he advised state governors to sustain the tempo of basic education in their various states.
Dr. Bobboyi disclosed that the commission is working with SUBEB to reduce the number of out-of-school children in the country.
According to him, statistics from UBEC indicate that out-of-school children from ages six to eleven decreased from 10.2 to 9.6 million between 2018 and 2021 and have been projected to reduce further to 9.5 million in 2022.
He therefore called on UBEC, SUBEB and other relevant stakeholders to synergise to move basic education forward in the 36 states and the FCT.
“Basic education has its challenges in Nigeria. We are in a difficult financial situation and as such, the quantity of resources that are available has started to decline, which is creating some problems.
“With up to 50 million children in basic education from primary to secondary school, various states have been able to at least provide for the pupils in a manner that is commensurate with the resources available. We must therefore continue to use the tools and resources at our disposal to make sure there is a sustainable improvement in basic education,” he said.
