Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged the 36 state governors to immediately redirect public funds budgeted to pay ex-governors ‘undeserved pensions and other retirement benefits’, and ‘security votes’, to pay the counterpart funds that would allow poor children to enjoy access to quality basic education, IgbereTV reports.
In a letter dated February 19 and signed by SERAP Deputy Director Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation said: “Several of the 36 states have reportedly failed to pay the counterpart funds to access over N51bn matching grants earmarked by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) for basic education in the country, as at July 2019.”
According to SERAP, the report by UBEC that several states have failed to access N51.6bn of matching grants suggests that these states are doing very little for poor children. It said it also explains why the number of out-of-school children in the country has risen from 10.5 million to 13.2 million.
The organisation, therefore, noted that if positive actions are not taken within 14 days of its publication, it would take legal actions agai9nst the governors
