TheNewsGuru

Tag: SUBEB

  • Benue Assembly suspends members, recommends SUBEB chairman for suspension

    Benue Assembly suspends members, recommends SUBEB chairman for suspension

    The Benue State House of Assembly has urged Gov. Hyacinth Alia to suspend the Chairman of the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Dr Grace Adagba, for six months over misconduct.

    The lawmakers who took the decision after a motion moved by the Chief Whip, Mr Bemdoo Ipusu (APC/Katsina-Ala West), during Tuesday’s plenary in Makurdi want the chairman to stay away from all matters relating to the board.

    The lawmakers said that the suspension would give the assembly access to carry out its oversight in the board.

    Ipusu said that the house, during its plenary on July 21, deliberated on a motion titled “Motion for the House to Embark on a Statewide Verification of Contracts”.

    “After a robust debate, the house resolved to constitute a seven-man ad hoc committee to ascertain the true status of completed and ongoing projects embarked upon by Alia’s government from inception to date and report back to the house within four weeks.

    “The ad hoc committee has extended several invitations to the Executive Chairman of SUBEB; she, however, declined to appear before the committee without any satisfactory explanation.

    “In one of her letters she had clearly stated that the house has no right to investigate contracts from the board.

    “It has, therefore, become very clear that she is deliberately hindering the house from carrying out its constitutional mandate of oversight,” Ipusu said.

    He said that allowing the chairman to remain actively involved while the committee conducts its assignment may create a conflict of interest, undermine public confidence or jeopardise the integrity of the lawmakers’ investigation.

    Mr Douglas Akya (APC/Makurdi South), who seconded the motion, decried the board’s lack of cooperation with the house under the chairmanship of her current chairman.

    Also, Mr Elias Audu (APC/Gwer East) said that SUBEB was established by law; therefore, it cannot act as an independent entity, and the house will be barred from carrying out an oversight function.

    Mr Thomas Dugeri (APC/Kwande West) said that the chairman had always disrespected the house whenever she was called to appear before it.

    Dugeri encouraged the house to stick to their decision of suspending the chairman, reiterating that they should take the decision and stand by it.

    Ruling, the Speaker, Mr Hyacinth Dajoh, said that the house was committed to upholding the principle of accountability and good governance in all matters of public interest.

    Benue Assembly suspends 5 members for 3 sittings

    Meanwhile, the Benue State House of Assembly has suspended five of its members for three legislative sittings for withholding vital information.

    The suspended members were said to have given incomplete information in their report on the investigation of the alleged financial misconduct of Otukpo Local Government Area Chairman, Mr Maxwell Ogiri.

    The decision was taken after the report of the house ad hoc committee to investigate members of the House Standing Committee on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs on Tuesday in Makurdi.

    In a lead debate, a member of the ad hoc committee, Mr Solomon Gyila (APC/Gwer West), said that members of the committee tampered with the report, stating that some useful information was excluded from the report.

    Gyila said that some of the issues that were not included in the report were the diversion of the council funds by the Otukpo LGA chairman.

    He said that Ogiri even sold government property, but the report that was presented by the committee was at variance with the collective decision of the members.

    Also, Mr Alfred Berger (APC/Makurdi North) said that the chairman of the committee, Mr Terna Shimawua (APC/Kyan), should be suspended for three months for tampering with the report.

    Berger said that Shimawua hid some things which the ad hoc committee had uncovered.

    Also, Mr Douglas Akya (APC/Makurdi South) said that security agencies should be directed to take over the premises of Otukpo LGA to forestall a breakdown of law and order.

    Mr Elias Audu (APC/Gwer East) encouraged his colleagues to be very careful with the issue of suspending members, stating it was demoralising.

    Audu said that members of the house should be suspended from the committee and not from the house for a period of three months.

    Ruling, the Speaker, Mr Hyacinth Dajoh, said that members of the committee would be suspended for three legislative sittings.

    Dajoh said that for the time being he would be the chairman of the House Committee on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.

    He said that chairmen of councils do not have power to lock the chamber of the local government legislative councils.

    The suspended members are Mr Terna Shimawua (APC/Kyan), Mr Matthew Damkor (APC/Tiev), Mr Cephas Dyako (APC/Konshisha), Mr Moses Egbodo (APC/Obi), and Mr Isaac Ochekyele (PDP/Ohimini).

  • Ogun Assembly confirms nominees for SUBEB

    Ogun Assembly confirms nominees for SUBEB

    The Ogun State House of Assembly has confirmed the nominees for the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), by Governor Dapo Abiodun.

    The House confirmed the nominees at its plenary on Thursday in Abeokuta.

    Those nominated and confirmed are  Ifede Joshua, Barrister Femi Odufowokan, Isiaka Aderounmu and  Akeem Balogun,

    Others are Mrs Kemi Adeogun, Wale Adeogun, Waheed Ogundele, Stephen Kolawole Odusanya and Moroof Paramole.

    The Majority Leader of the House, Hon. Yusuf Sheriff, had presented the committee’s report on the nominees and requested the House to adopt the report.

    Sheriff said the committee had thoroughly reviewed the nominees’  credentials, adding that the nominees’ responses during the screening were impressive and found them suitable for the appointment.

    The House Speaker, Hon. Oludaisi Elemide,  adopted the report after a motion moved by the Minority Leader, Lukman Adeleye.

    Elimide, however, charged the nominees, when sworn in by the governor, to discharge their duties with integrity and commitment to advance basic education in the state.

  • Nasarawa SUBEB orders office workers to go to classrooms

    Nasarawa SUBEB orders office workers to go to classrooms

    The Nasarawa State Universal Basic Education Board (NSUBEB) has directed the immediate redeployment of 1,300 administrative staff to classrooms to address the shortage of teachers in the state.

    Dr Kassim Mohammed-Kassim, Executive Chairman, NSUBEB gave the directive on Wednesday in Lafia during a meeting with Education Secretaries of the 13 Local Government Areas and 18 Development Areas of the state.

    He said that 3,422 staff could not work in offices in the LGA, while there was  shortage of teachers to teach in the classrooms.

    Mohammed-Kassim further promised to tackle the lopsided deployment of teachers to urban schools at the expense of schools in rural communities.

    He said that Gov. Abdullahi Sule had approved the recruitment of 4, 800 qualified teachers to Primary Schools in the state.

    The SUBEB boss emphasised that all the teachers to be recruited would be posted to schools in rural areas to address the deficit in those areas.

    “Those applying for teaching jobs should be prepared to go to the rural areas because none of them will be posted to urban areas.

    “My agenda is to revive rural schools and make it attractive to parents to send their children,” he added.

    Mohammed-Kassim also expressed shock that furniture provided by the government for primary school pupils to sit comfortably were diverted by some education secretaries and headmasters and sold to private schools.

    “Our pupils cannot be sitting on the floor in classrooms while the furniture provided by the government is diverted to private schools and private homes.

    “I have visited most schools and seen with my own eyes students sitting on the floor.

    “However,  records before me showed furniture were supplied to such schools in the past. That will not be allowed under my watch,” he said.

    The SUBEB chairman revealed that the board would partner with security agencies to investigate the issue, recover the furniture and punish the perpetrators.

    He further warned the Education Secretaries against illegal deductions from their teachers’ salaries except on disciplinary grounds, with the consent of the board.

    He also directed them not to allocate any school land to small business ventures except with the permission of the board as some people have started claiming school lands on that basis.

    He promised to create a maintenance unit in each local government to protect and safeguard SUBEB properties.

  • Nasarawa SUBEB suspends Lafia education secretary

    Nasarawa SUBEB suspends Lafia education secretary

    Dr Kassim Mohammed-Kassim, the Executive Chairman of Nasarawa State Universal Basic Education Board (SEBEB), has suspended the Education Secretary of Lafia Local Government, Usman Aliyu, for being absent at his duty post.

    Mohammed-Kassim issued the suspension on Thursday in Lafia during his unscheduled visits to some schools and Local Education Authority offices in Lafia.

    The visit was aimed at supervising staff to ascertain the quality of teaching and learning, as well as assessing facilities and structures for necessary improvement.

    Mohammed-Kassim said the suspension followed the inability of the education secretary to be in office to receive and brief him on the state of affairs of schools under his jurisdiction.

    The SUBEB boss said that the action would serve as a deterrent to others who may want to sabotage the administration’s well-packaged vision for basic education in the state.

    On the shortage of teachers, the SUBEB Chairman who assumed office recently assured that the board would soon carry out the recruitment of qualified teachers for primary schools.

    He said that the board would post teachers to schools in rural communities to address the over-concentration of teachers in urban schools.

    He also assured that all teachers under the payroll of the Parents Teachers Association (PTA) would be absorbed into full-time jobs with the board.

    He urged the PTA teachers to exercise patience as modalities are being worked out for their absorption.

    The newly appointed executive chairman thanked Gov. Abdullahi Sule for the opportunity given him to serve the state, and promised to discharge his duty with a high sense of responsibility to support the administration to succeed.

  • Benue lifts suspension on SUBEB recruitment

    Benue lifts suspension on SUBEB recruitment

    The Benue State House of Assembly has lifted the suspension placed on the recruitment exercise of the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) for the overall interest of the applicants.

    The suspension was lifted after the Ad-Hoc Committee Investigating Controversies Surrounding Recruitment of Primary School Teachers by the board concluded its assignment.

    Chairman of the committee, Mr Cephas Dyako (LP/Konshisha), stated that a law to provide for the compulsory free universal basic education and for purposes connected therewith in 2018, section 7, 1 (b).

    He said that the law allowed the board to recruit, appoint, promote, and discipline teaching and non-teaching staff on grade levels 07 and above.

    He said that a total number of 74,574 candidates applied for the recruitment, while a total number of 48,895 candidates sat for the Computer-Based Test (CBT), and a total number of 7,224 candidates were shortlisted for the oral interview.

    He said that the allocation of cutoff marks to each local government area was on the basis of performance, which was to avoid overdominance of some highly performed local governments over others in the recruitment exercise.

    He further said that based on the needs assessment carried out by the board, no local government got less than 200 candidates shortlisted for the oral interview so far except Makurdi and Ohimini local governments, who got 144 and 126, respectively.

    He added that a total of 2,476 were yet to be shortlisted due to the suspension of the recruitment exercise.

    He disclosed that candidates were not originally shortlisted on the basis of their local government of origin, therefore, not reflecting the state character.

    Mr Blessed Onah (PDP/Oju I) said that as a result of the investigation carried out by the committee, there would be equity in the recruitment exercise.

    The Speaker, Mr Hyacinth Dajo, said that the board should reassess the recruitment process and ensure compliance with extant laws based on fairness, equity, and justice to reflect state character.

    Dajo commended Gov. Hyacinth Alia for approving the recruitment of primary school teachers to bridge the existing gaps in public primary schools.

    He said that the board does ensure that applicants are shortlisted and employed strictly in their local governments of origin, taking note of the financial autonomy granted to local governments.

    He charged all government appointees to desist from actions that undermine the authority of the assembly.

  • SUBEB chairman ordered to step aside over recruitment investigation

    SUBEB chairman ordered to step aside over recruitment investigation

    The Benue House of Assembly, presided over by its Speaker, Hyacinth Dajo, ordered the Chairman of the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Dr Grace Adagba, to step aside from her official duties forthwith.

    The lawmakers took the decision during Thursday’s plenary to allow the house to investigate the recruitment exercise embarked upon by the board.

    The resolution followed a motion moved by the Chief Whip, Mr Peter Ipusu (APC/Katsina-Ala West).

    Ipusu said that the house had earlier adopted the resolution directing the chairman of the board to suspend the ongoing recruitment of primary school teachers to allow for investigation into controversies surrounding the exercise, but the directive was ignored.

    The chief whip stressed that a day after the resolution was duly conveyed, the chairman released a statement indicating that new cut-off marks had been allocated to the various local governments based on their performance in the Computer-Based Test (CBT).

    He stated that the board subsequently shortlisted additional names for physical screening.

    Ipusu said that he was worried that the statement released by SUBEB was not only reactionary but also disparaging of the honour of the assembly and its resolutions.

    Mr Alfred Berger (APC/Makurdi North), who seconded the motion, stated that the chairman lacked the integrity to continue to pilot the affairs of the board.

    Berger added that the law establishing the board gave powers to the Local Government Education Authorities (LGEAs) to recruit teachers, emphasising that the process was decentralised and the department of quality assurance of the board only supervised it.

    Meanwhile, Majority Leader Mr Saater Tiseer pleaded with his colleagues to give the chairman a fair hearing on the matter.

    Tiseer added that the day she was to appear before the house, she was at the assembly by 10 am as requested.

    He advised his colleagues not to make decisions based on prejudice, adding that they should take actions in line with the constitution.

    The counter motion was seconded by Anthony Agom (PDP/Okpokwu), stating that the chairman should be allowed to explain herself.

    The Speaker, Hyacinth Dajo, subsequently asked the Clerk, Mr John Hwande, to divide the house, and the members who voted in favour of the initial motion were 21, while five voted for the counter motion.

    Dajo stated that the chairman should step aside and hand over to the board’s permanent member 1 to allow the house to carry out its investigation.

    The speaker further constituted a seven-man committee to investigate the exercise and report to the house within seven days.

  • SUBEB chair asked to refund N2bn to LG bureau

    SUBEB chair asked to refund N2bn to LG bureau

    The Benue State House of Assembly has ordered Mrs Grace Adagba, Chairman, State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), to refund the sum of N2.1 billion to the coffers of the Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.

    The decision follows a report of the house ad-hoc committee, which investigated the activities of the caretaker committees of the 23 local government areas of the state.

    The Majority Leader, Mr Saater Tiseer, Chairman of the committee, said that the expected refund of N2.1 billion by the SUBEB Chairman was the balance of the funds received from the bureau between December 2023 and June 2024.

    Tiseer said that the bureau received on behalf of the 23 local governments a total sum of N66.8 from September 2023 to May 2024.

    “Out of this amount, N12 billion was released to the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), N3.98 billion to the Primary Health Care Board, and N107 million was released to the Local Government Service Commission (LGSC) as a one per cent training fund.

    “Also, the sum of N3.9 billion went to the State Emergency Management Agency (BSEMA),” Tiseer said.

    The majority leader reiterated that the amount SUBEB received was for salaries of primary school teachers between December 2023 and June 2024.

    He, however, noted that the board only spent N9.97 billion as a monthly salary of primary school teachers for the period under review, leaving a balance of N2.1 billion that had not been accounted for.

    Tiseer stated that local government council officials were compelled to sign blank papers with which officials of the bureau withdrew huge sums of money from the local governments accounts.

    The majority leader further noted that the bureau mandated security secretaries to pay N9 million from the supposed N10 million security vote for each local government back to the bureau through a designated account.

    “This amounted to N1.7 billion from October 2023 to June 2024 for the 22 local government councils visited.

    “Most of the local government councils failed to submit salary pay vouchers (PVs) requested by the ad hoc committee. The few PVs submitted were doctored with evidence of multiple payments.

    “Also, most of the local government councils visited had very low revenue profiles, and the little amount generated was not banked as required by extant laws,” he added.

    Mr Douglas Akya (APC/Makurdi South) said that the report had exposed the rot that bedevilled the local governments.

    Mr Elias Audu (APC/Gwer East) urged the house to write to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate the rot in the local government system in Benue.

    The speaker, Mr Hyacinth Dajo, said that the State and Local Government Joint Accounts Allocation Committee should be scrapped to allow local government councils to receive allocations directly into their accounts.

    Dajo said that doing so would enable them to deliver quality services to the rural people.

    The speaker further ordered the former special adviser to the governor on the Bureau for Local Government to refund the sum of N1.7 billion within one month with proof of payment to the house.

    The sum, he said, was the withdrawal from the total sum of the N9 million approved for security votes of 22 local government councils from October 2023 to June 2024 for nine months.

    He also warned local government councils against refusal to disclose official information to the house, stressing that failure to supply official information to the house would attract sanctions henceforth.

    Dajo further charged the councils to harness the revenue potentials in their respective areas in order to complement the monthly allocations for effective service delivery to the people better.

  • FG approves upward review of SUBEB matching grants to N3.5bn

    FG approves upward review of SUBEB matching grants to N3.5bn

    The Federal Government has approved an upward review of the matching grants of state governments for infrastructural projects under the Universal Basic Education (UBE) to N3.5 billion. The Executive Secretary, Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Dr Hamid Bobboyi said this on Thursday at a 5-day financial training for SUBEB Chairmen and Board Secretaries in Ibadan.

    Bobboyi said that the increased matching grants to the states for infrastructural projects was realised from the two per cent  consolidated revenue fund allotted for basic education in Nigeria. He said that the approval followed the passage of the 2024 Appropriation Bill, which was assented into law by the President.

    “The 2024 Federal Government Statutory Allocation of the UBE Matching Grant to each state is over N3.5 billion. The grant complies with Section 11 (2) of the UBE Act, 2004. The state governments are requested to provide an equivalent amount of N3.5 billion as Counterpart Fund in order to execute the first to the fourth Quarter, 2024 UBE intervention projects,” Bobboyi said.

    He noted that states previously were getting about N1.3 billion per year, as matching grants, but the grant had now been jacked up to N3.3 billion. Bobboyi, however, urged state governments yet to access the 2023 matching grant with the commission amounting to N1.4billion as of July 1, 2024, to do so.

    “With the impressive amount, states are expected to bring in matching grants of N3.3 billion to go home with about N6.6 billion. This is quite an impressive amount. Of course, we also took into account that inflation had affected the grants.

    “At the same time, it is very encouraging to see that the available amount is decent enough for states, because when a state brings in another N3.3 billion, it goes home with about 6.6 billion. It’s quite a reasonable amount if it could be applied well,” he said.

    The UBEC boss stated that about 46 million children are in schools across the country, adding that basic education ends at the secondary school level. He acknowledged the fact that the commission had enormous challenges, which was also true for all state SUBEBs.

    Bobboyi urged the state chairmen and secretaries to work as a team and mop up the remaining out-of-school children in their individual states. He said that the quarterly meetings of SUBEB chairmen and secretaries would allow them to look into their challenges and proffer solutions in the basic education sub-sector.

    The meeting was attended by SUBEB chairmen, permanent secretaries, and executive secretaries across the country.

  • Oyo SUBEB shuts job portal after 52,423 applications

    Oyo SUBEB shuts job portal after 52,423 applications

    Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board (Oyo SUBEB) has shut the job application portal opened for recruitment of primary school teachers, after receiving 52,423 applications.

    The job application portal was opened on June 25 and ran till July 9.

    A statement issued by the SUBEB Chairman, Dr Nureni Adeniran, on Thursday said that the job application portal was closed after the July 9 deadline.

    “We are impressed by the response, which shows that people are truly keen and excited to work with Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board.

    “However, we are compelled to close the portal, as the deadline had passed.

    “We received not less than 52,423 submitted applications within the number of days of opening the portal. That was impressive.

    “After shutting the portal, our team has started sorting out the applications and picking the suitably qualified candidates who will be contacted by the board,” he said.

    Adeniran, however, urged the applicants to be wary of fake news on the ongoing recruitment process.

    He also advised them to check their e-mails and phones regularly for information on developments.

    Adeniran stated that after the sorting out of the applications, the next stage would be the conduct of CBT examinations.

    “The date, venue and time scheduled for each candidate will be sent through the email and phone numbers submitted,” he said.

  • Teaching not a relegated profession – SUBEB boss

    Teaching not a relegated profession – SUBEB boss

    Alhaji Adamu Duguri, the Chairman, Bauchi State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), has said that teaching was not a relegated profession due to its contributions to national development.

    He stated this at the end of a three-day capacity building exercise of 30 teachers of core subjects on Thursday in Bauchi.

    The exercise was being implemented by the state government in collaboration with the Girls Education Mission International (GEM) project and TY Danjuma Foundation.

    Duguri tasked the teachers to be upright and dedicated towards imparting relevant knowledge in their students, to further move the profession to its rightful place.

    “It is your responsibility to make the state and country habitable because when you train people, you are training the whole country.

    “Thuggery, terrorism and other form of crimes are major organ of illiteracy because a learned person could not dagger or kill a fellow citizen no matter their differences.

    “So, I believe that if people are trained, then progress is imminent.

    “Don’t assume that teaching is a relegated profession, Try to bring the profession back to its initial position to earn the respect you deserve,” he said.

    He, however, lamented that the state government was investing huge resources in the education sector without corresponding commitment by teachers

    “There are teachers that even steal equipment in schools, and the spate of harassment against students by some teachers is also disheartening.

    “When teachers are immoral, there will be serious problem in the society,” he said.

    Also speaking,  Ketura Shammah, the Executive Director, Girls Education Mission International, described the exercise as worthwhile considering the responses of the teachers.

    She said the participants were expected to step down the training to about 5,000 teachers in the state.