State governments across Nigeria have left N264.12bn in Universal Basic Education Commission matching grants unspent, even as public schools grapple with dilapidated classrooms, overcrowding and shortages of learning materials, raising concerns about the utilisation of funds meant to improve basic education.
The 2025 UBEC Annual Report, exclusively obtained showed that the funds had been disbursed to State Universal Basic Education Boards but remained unexpended in state government accounts as of July 21, 2025, when the commission conducted financial monitoring visits across the states and the Federal Capital Territory.
Benue State recorded the highest unspent balance of N19.18bn, followed by Imo with N14.12bn, Osun with N14.02bn, Kwara with N13.99bn and Delta with N13.40bn. The five states accounted for N74.72bn, representing about 28.3 per cent of the total.
The findings come amid persistent challenges in the public education system, with pupils in some communities learning in dilapidated buildings, overcrowded classrooms and makeshift structures. In Benue and Kwara, for instance, residents and education stakeholders described deteriorating school facilities and stalled or inadequate interventions, highlighting the gap between funds reported as unspent and the urgent needs of public schools.
Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, criticised the failure to utilise funds intended for basic education, accusing governors of neglecting poor children. He also urged state governments to deploy released intervention funds and fulfil the requirements for accessing counterpart grants.
Falana, who cited a Federal High Court judgment on the obligation of governments to provide free, compulsory and universal basic education, called for greater accountability in the management of education funds and measures to ensure that children have access to schooling.
The unspent balances span different administrations, including outgoing and incumbent governors. However, the report does not break down how much each administration received, inherited or failed to utilise.
According to the report, the funds had been disbursed to State Universal Basic Education Boards but remained unspent in state accounts at the time of UBEC’s financial monitoring visits.
Benue recorded the highest unutilised balance, at N19.18bn, followed by Imo with N14.12bn and Osun with N14.02bn.
Kwara had N13.99bn, while Delta recorded N13.40bn. Other states with substantial unspent balances were Borno, with N13.20bn; Anambra, N12.67bn; and Kano, N12.15bn.
Adamawa recorded N11.38bn, while Gombe had N11.09bn. In all, 10 states had more than N11bn each in unutilised matching grants.
In the North-Central, apart from Benue and Kwara, Kogi recorded N7.60bn, Plateau N6.98bn, Nasarawa N6.75bn and Niger N3.62bn. The Federal Capital Territory had N5.67bn.
Benue recorded the highest unutilised balance, at N19.18bn, followed by Imo with N14.12bn and Osun with N14.02bn.
Kwara had N13.99bn, while Delta recorded N13.40bn. Other states with substantial unspent balances were Borno, with N13.20bn; Anambra, N12.67bn; and Kano, N12.15bn.
Adamawa recorded N11.38bn, while Gombe had N11.09bn. In all, 10 states had more than N11bn each in unutilised matching grants.
In the North-Central, apart from Benue and Kwara, Kogi recorded N7.60bn, Plateau N6.98bn, Nasarawa N6.75bn and Niger N3.62bn. The Federal Capital Territory had N5.67bn.
In the South-East, Imo and Anambra recorded N14.12bn and N12.67bn, respectively. Abia had N8.64bn, Enugu N5.03bn and Ebonyi N2.81bn.
In the South-West, Osun led with N14.02bn, followed by Ekiti with N8.40bn. Ogun recorded N5.26bn, Oyo N5.09bn, Ondo N3.48bn and Lagos N1.85bn.
In the South-South, Delta recorded N13.40bn, followed by Akwa Ibom with N8.09bn. Edo had N2.48bn, Cross River N2.47bn, Bayelsa N1.60bn and Rivers N329.28m.
In the North-East, Borno recorded N13.20bn, Adamawa N11.38bn and Gombe N11.09bn. Yobe had N4.37bn, while Taraba recorded N168.48m.
In the North-West, Kano had N12.15bn, Jigawa N7.92bn, Kebbi N7.21bn, Kaduna N7.09bn and Zamfara N7.03bn. Katsina recorded N6.15bn, while Sokoto had N1.96bn.
Bauchi recorded N825.99m, making it one of only three states with unutilised balances below N1bn, alongside Rivers and Taraba.
The state-by-state figures underscore the scale of unspent education funding across the federation. However, the report does not establish why the individual states failed to utilise the funds or whether the balances have changed since the monitoring visits.
The unutilised grants come amid persistent challenges in Nigeria’s basic education sector, including dilapidated classrooms, overcrowding, shortages of learning materials and unequal access to quality schooling.
The Federal Ministry of Education’s Nigeria Education Statistics 2024 portal put the national learner-to-classroom ratio at 60.1, above the benchmark of 35 learners per classroom. Some states recorded significantly higher ratios, although the dataset has limitations because not all schools submitted information.
The figures highlight the need for greater investment in school infrastructure and learning facilities. However, the unspent balances alone do not establish how many classrooms could have been built or rehabilitated with the funds.
Depending on approved action plans and state-specific needs, the grants can support classroom construction and renovation, the provision of desks and instructional materials, sanitation facilities and teacher development.
Determining the number of projects that could have been delivered would, however, require details of approved budgets, procurement costs, project specifications and expenditure categories.
The central concern is that funds intended to improve basic education had been disbursed but remained unspent at the time of UBEC’s monitoring visits.
