By Mariam Abeeb
The Federal Government has urged all the state governments to ensure judicious and accountable utilization of the matching grant disbursed to them for implementation of Universal Basic Education Commission (UBE).
Executive Secretary of Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Dr Hamid Bobboyi, made the call in Abuja while declaring open a 6-day training for Accountants and Auditors of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) as well as those of the State Universal Basic Education Boards (SUBEBs).
He frowned at situations where state officials mount unnecessary pressure on financial officers, urging the officers in SUBEBs to resist pressure from any quarters to commit infractions and compromise standards.
Bobboyi said the purpose of the training was to familiarize participants with the newly reviewed accounting manual and provide a comprehensive understanding of financial infractions and sanctions, noting such knowledge was crucial to ensuring successful service delivery in basic education.
He said: “Given the mandates of UBEC and SUBEBs in implementing the UBE programme, it is imperative that we strengthen our accounting system to ensure judicious utilization of government investment in the sector.
“As such, it becomes our responsibility to be accountable to the Nigerian public regarding the management of Federal Government UBE Intervention Fund and its overall impact.
“To fulfill these responsibilities effectively, it is necessary to continuously enhance our institutional capacity by improving professional competence among all UBEC and SUBEB staff members,” he stated.
The UBEC boss lamented that while trainings have been provided for the finance staff in accordance with the set objectives, it was disheartening to observe that these trainings have not yielded significant improvements in workplaces.
He revealed that regular quarterly financial monitoring activities conducted by UBEC reveal “poor record-keeping practices as well infractions that violate established rules, regulations, and guidelines”.
He added that observations made from these monitoring exercises were forwarded to SUBEBs along with recommendations for necessary actions.
He stressed on the need to strictly adhere to the existing rules, regulations, and guidelines intended to guide the financial transactions for accountability, transparency, and value-for-money purposes.
