Falana Urges States to Utilise N267bn UBEC Funds for Basic Education

Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), has called on governors of the 36 states and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to utilise N267 billion in released intervention funds for basic education and access over N65 billion in counterpart funding yet to be accessed by states.
Falana, who is the Chair of the Alliance on Surviving Covid 19 and Beyond (ASCAB), made the call in a statement titled “Abandonment of Primary School Education for the Children of the Poor.”
He said the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) revealed that as of August this year, about N267 billion in released intervention funds was yet to be utilised, while over N65 billion counterpart funding was yet to be accessed by states.
The Executive Secretary of UBEC, Dr. Aisha Garba, made the disclosure at the opening of a month-long technical capacity-building workshop organised by the World Bank-assisted HOPE-GOV Programme in Abuja.
The workshop is aimed at strengthening budget planning and execution for basic education and primary healthcare in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
Falana recalled that on November 28, 2025, the Federal High Court ruled in the case of Femi Falana & Anor v Attorney-General of the Federation & 36 Ors (Suit No. FHC/L/CS/142/24) that the Federal Government, all 36 state governments and the FCT have a binding legal obligation to provide free, compulsory and universal basic education for every Nigerian child of primary and junior secondary school age.
“In spite of the clear terms of the above judgment,” he said, the funds meant for basic education remained unutilised or unaccessed.
“As a matter of urgency, the governors of the 36 states and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory should utilise the N267 billion in released intervention funds and access the over N65 billion counterpart funding in the UBEC Account,” he said.
Falana urged the authorities to “perform their statutory duties and respect the right of every Nigerian child to free and compulsory basic education from primary school to junior secondary school guaranteed by the Free, Compulsory Universal Basic Education Act.”
He also called on the Federal Government to provide a meal for schoolchildren per day to boost enrolment and nutrition in line with the National Social Investment Programme Agency Act.
“In view of the ongoing political campaigns, we call on the mass media to challenge all registered political parties and their candidates to bring out their programmes with respect to the implementation of the relevant laws on free and compulsory basic education for every child in Nigeria as well as the school feeding programme,” he said.
Falana added that, “Having regard to the enormous resources of the country, the removal of children of school age from the streets in all states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory must be carried out without any further delay.”