Education
34 states, FCT yet to access 2024 UBE matching grant — UBEC
By Francesca Hangeior.
The Executive Secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission, Hamid Bobboyi, has revealed that 34 states and the Federal Capital Territory are yet to access the 2024 Universal Basic Education matching grant.
Bobboyi disclosed this on Monday in Abuja during the Senate Committee on Education’s (Basic and Secondary) oversight visit to the commission.
He noted that only Katsina and Kaduna states had accessed their first and second quarters of the 2024 matching grant.
Providing details of matching grants accessed between 2020 and 2024, Bobboyi said unaccessed UBE grants remain a significant challenge for basic and junior secondary education.
“For the 2020 UBE matching grant, 34 states and the FCT have accessed it, while two states—Abia and Ogun—have not. For 2021, 33 states and the FCT have accessed it, leaving Abia, Imo, and Ogun yet to do so.
“In 2022, 29 states and the FCT accessed the grants, with Abia, Adamawa, Anambra, Ebonyi, Imo, Ogun, and Oyo yet to access theirs. For 2023, 25 states accessed the grants for the first to fourth quarters,” he said.
Bobboyi further stated that N263.04 billion and N103.29 billion, representing 2 per cent of the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF), were allocated to the commission under the 2024 and 2023 Appropriation Acts, respectively.
He added that N103.29 billion was fully released for 2023, while N219.20 billion had been released for 2024, representing 83.33 per cent of the year’s allocation.
Ranking state performances in accessing the UBE grants by geopolitical zones as of October 31, Bobboyi commended the North West zone for achieving 100 per cent.
The South-South zone followed with 97.92 per cent, North Central with 97.76 per cent, North East with 97.57 per cent, South West with 92.28 per cent, and South East with 85.37 per cent.
He identified key challenges facing the commission, including a lack of political will and commitment by some state governments, low budgetary allocations to basic education at state and local government levels, and poor teacher quality.
Bobboyi added, “Non-compliance with the Federal Government’s directive on teaching history in basic schools and the high number of out-of-school children are also major issues.”
Members of the Senate Committee on Education expressed concerns over the challenges. Senator Victor Umeh lamented the high number of out-of-school children in northern states despite higher allocations.
Senator Sunday Katung called for the reintroduction of history into the basic education curriculum, citing its importance for the younger generation.
Earlier, the committee chairman, Senator Lawal Usman, commended UBEC’s efforts but urged the commission to implement the committee’s recommendations and improve its operational framework.
By Francesca Hangeior
Out of 1,955,069 candidates who sat for the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), over 1.5 million of them scored less than 200 in the exam.
The statistical analysis of 2025 UTME result released by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) on Monday indicated that only 420,415 candidates scored above 200 in the 2025 edition of the UTME.
While 4756 candidates scored above 320, 7658 candidates scored between 300 and 319.
In the statement accompanying the data, JAMB said “40,247 underage candidates were permitted to demonstrate their exceptional abilities. However, only 467 of these candidates (1.16%) achieved scores that meet the threshold for exceptional ability as defined for the UTME, with their performance in the subsequent three stages still pending.”
The Academic Staff Union of Universities has announced the disbursement of the 2024 scholarship to 164 indigent students selected from branches of the union across the country.
This was revealed by the Convener of ASUU Grant, Research and Publications Committee, Professor Christopher Piwuna on Saturday during a press conference at the Sa’adu Zungur University, Yuli Campus, Bauchi State.
Piwuna explained that of the 79 ASUU branches, two successful applicants were selected in every university through a rigorous screening process.
He said each recipient of the scholarship went home with a non-refundable cash-backing of N200,000.
The Convener, who was represented by the former Coordinator ASUU Bauchi-Zone, Lawan Abubakar, said gender balance was reflected in the selection of the beneficiaries.
He disclosed that physically challenged beneficiaries were selected to support them to access tertiary education.
“Over the last two years, ASUU spent about N164, 800,000 on scholarships for indigent students in universities across the country.
“Our Union has been managing the Gani Fawehinmi scholarship for years, we decided to not only organise that of Chief Gani but institute our own.
“This creation was also shaped by the government’s unrelenting attacks on students and their parents through ‘school charges.’
“When we argued that NELFUND scholarship should be a grant, we meant it because we are not asking any parent or beneficiary of our indigent support to repay at a later day,” Piwuna said
Akelicious gathered that to qualify for this scholarship, interested applicants need to prove their indigent economic status and an excellent Cumulative Grade Average Point to the union.
JAMB has announced the date for the release of 2025 UTME Results.
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has disclosed that the results of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) will be released after the completion of post-examination analyses and other standard procedures.
The exam body made this known via its official social media handle on Tuesday afternoon, calling for patience among candidates who sat for the exam.
2025 UTME results to be released as soon as all post examination analyses and other procedures are completed. Candidates are enjoined to be patient please.
— JAMB (@JAMBHQ) April 29, 2025
The 2025 UTME commenced on Thursday, April 24, and will continue until Monday, May 5.
The nationwide exercise is being conducted across accredited Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres, with over 2,030,627 candidates registered for this year’s examination.
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