Adamawa Govt accesses N10bn UBEC funds

Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa State says the state government has accessed N10 billion from the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) funds.

Mr Fintiri made the disclosure in a special broadcast on the occasion to commemorate his one year in office on Friday in Yola.

He said on assumption of office on May 29, 2019, he discovered that the state had lost out on the UBEC funding from 2015 to 2019.

“Within one year in office, our administration provided matching grants for the lost years.

“And we got an opportunity to access N10 billion funds, which were lying fallow at the UBEC for our basic education in the state,” Mr Fintiri said.

He noted that the government had for the first time in many years, paid examination fees for students, who would be sitting for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination by WAEC, NABTEB, NBAIS and the Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) by NECO.

Mr Fintiri confirmed that since 2007 successive administrations in the state had stopped paying the SSCE fees.

He noted that his government had been able to present over 27,894 students for external examinations, with all the fees of such examinations paid by the government.

On security situation, he noted that with barely one year in office, his administration had revamped the Joint Security Taskforce, codenamed: “Operation Farauta”.

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The governor also pointed out that the state government had purchased and donated 60 Hilux vans to the taskforce, a move, which had yielded remarkable feats.

Speaking on agricultural development in the last one year, Mr Fintiri stated that the citizens would soon witness a bumper harvest as the farmer/herder crisis has been drastically reduced.

“Farmers are returning back to their ancestral homes and many Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in the state are being permanently closed down, after months of sojourn in unfamiliar terrains,” he assured.

The governor explained that within one year in office, his administration had recorded tremendous achievements in the provision of rural access roads, water supply, healthcare and security.

(NAN)