UPDATE: Obaseki Diverted And Squandered N1.2Billion UBEC Education Grant

A whooping N1.2billion from the Universal Basic Education Commission, UBEC, to the EDO State Government under former governor Godwin Obaseki, was diverted and thereafter looted in 2023, according to financial records seen.

Edo state was fully informed and advised by the UBEC to deposit the sum of N1,204,452,353.76 into the EDO SUBEB Matching Grant Account 0066783858 with Sterling Bank, to enable the state to access the 1st – 4th quarters, 2022 UBE intervention projects, via a letter dated 1 June,
2022 .

Following a correspondence between EDOSUBEB and the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), it was discovered that Edo state was fully informed and advised by the UBEC to deposit the sum of N1,204,452,353.76 into the EDO SUBEB Matching Grant Account 0066783858 with Sterling Bank, to enable the state to access the 1st – 4th quarters, 2022 UBE intervention projects, via a letter dated 1 June, 2022.

On 22 December 2022, the matching grant account was credited with the same amount (N1,204,452,353.76) via Edo state government Revenue consolidated account, to enable UBEC to match the fund.

But instead of the Board to wait for the counterpart of the fund from UBEC and approval of the action plan (Budget) on how the money should be utilized, the board, on June 5, 2023, transferred the sum of N1,122,692,720.24 to another Edo state Universal Basic Education Domestic Matching Grant Account, 0092078449, domiciled at Sterling Bank.

The above action by EDOSUBEB contravenes the FGN-UBE Intervention Funds Guidelines Section 2.1 (i, ii, iii, & vi) under List of Financial Infractions including, Illegal withdrawal of State Counterpart Funds, Diversion/ Misappropriation of Funds, Embezzlement/ theft of UBE Intervention Funds and Questionable and unauthorized Expenditure.

True to these infractions, this Domestic Account is not known to UBEC. That is to say, that the board maintained a double matching grant account in the same bank (Sterling Bank) against the UBEC guideline.