FULFIL YOUR PROMISE TO ACCESS ACCUMULATED UBEC MATCHING GRANT: ENetSuD TELLS ABDULRAHMAN

              Executive Governor of Kwara State

Elites Network for Sustainable Development (ENetSuD), a Kwara-based Civil Society Organization, has expressed hope for a better Primary and Secondary Educations in Kwara state following the official pronouncement of the Executive Governor of Kwara state, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, at the 7^th Convocation ceremony of Kwara State University on 8^th June 2019 that over N5 billion accumulated UBEC matching grant will be accessed by his administration as soon as the state executive come on stream.

In a statement signed by its Coordinator (Dr. Alagbonsi Abdullateef), ENetSuD explained that it wrote the Kwara State Transition Committee on 23^rd April 2019 to advise Abdulrahman-led administration on the need to release adequate amount (as counterpart fund) that could access all the accumulated UBEC matching grant and properly utilize such grant to fix public school infrastructure in the state. ENetSuD posited that if this money is accessed by the State government, the current poor educational infrastructure could be adequately fixed to improve the quality of education in the state.

It will be recalled that, through series of its various lobbies, ENetSuD had previously called on the out-gone administration of Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed to pay counterpart fund and access Five Billion, One Hundred and Thirty Nine Million, Nine Hundred and Eighty Thousand, Four Hundred and Ninety Six Naira (N5,139,980,496.14) UBEC Matching grant that had accumulated up to 11^th September, 2018. (READ: https://enetsud.org/2018/11/03/group-charges-kwara-government-on-improved-funding-for-basic-education/; https://enetsud.org/2018/09/15/poor-state-of-public-schools-in-kwara-state-enetsud-tasks-state-government-on-adequate-funding-of-education-and-ensuring-its-judicious-use-by-school-managements/; https://enetsud.org/2018/07/24/government-technical-college-patigi-a-shadow-of-its-old-self/; https://enetsud.org/2018/06/29/islamiya-college-patigi-a-school-where-students-learn-in-uncompleted-buildings-with-no-facilities/). It will also be recalled that ENetSuD lobbied the Kwara State House of Assembly to make adequate provision for the State Counterpart Fund to access the grant while passing the 2019 budget in December 2018. However, the Abdulfatah-led administration left the Kwara public schools in pitiable condition by its failure to access the grant despite the relentless efforts by ENetSuD, citing the drop in the Federal Allocation coming to Kwara state as excuse.

ENetSuD therefore charged His Excellency, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, to prioritize funding of Education and fulfil his promise by paying counterpart fund to access the grant, and adequately utilizing such to reposition Kwara public schools. ENetSuD also said that, if the grant is accessed, it will monitor how it is spent as part of his #FollowKwaraMoney activities.

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