SERAP, Okowa And The N200bn UBEC Funds

Afimag.com –

Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has ordered former governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State to account for over N200bn public funds his administration collected from the Universal Basic Education Commission, (UBEC).

The court also asked Okowa to account for the spending of allocations from the Federation Accounts.

This is followed a suit filed by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP).

The Presiding Judge, Justice Daniel Osiagor, ordered the Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori to give details of budgetary allocations and actual spending by the Okowa government between 2015 and 2019 including specific projects carried out to improve primary education in Delta State, and the locations of such projects.

Justice Osiagor maintained that SERAP has the legal right to inquire and know the way public institutions manage public funds and therefore urged every citizen to make it a point of duty to demand transparency and accountability in governance.

The Judge ordered the Delta State government to state how the Okowa government spent over N7.28 billion received from UBEC between 2015 and 2017, and N213 billion received from the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) in 2018.

SERAP’s suit followed the case of seven year-old Success Adegor, who was sent home because her parents could not pay the illegal school fee/levy of N900, and the poor-quality of her Okotie-Eboh Primary School 1.

Justice Osiagor ordered the government to state details of the primary schools that have benefited from the projects carried out and information on indirect costs, including uniforms, exercise books, and transport costs to students and their parents.