ICPC, EFCC prosecute 10 errant SUBEB contractors as Sokoto accesses N3.7bn UBEC fund
ICPC, EFCC prosecute 10 errant SUBEB contractors as Sokoto accesses N3.7bn UBEC fund 
From Bashir Rabe Mani, Sokoto
The Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC,), are prosecuting 10 errant contractors of the Sokoto State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), for breaching contractual agreements.
Chairman of SUBEB, Alhaji Umaru Nagwari Tambuwal, disclosed this to newsmen on Tuesday in Sokoto during a briefing to mark the third year anniversary of Gov. Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto.
Tambuwal said the prosecution followed various petitions filed before the two commissions by SUBEB, with a view to retrieving hard-earned public funds given to the contractors to execute various projects in Sokoto State but which they failed to do in outright breach of the contractual agreements.
“We will not tolerate shoddy jobs, especially in rural schools. I am holding a lot of files that I refuse to pay. Go back to site and make corrections.
“When I am satisfied, then I pay. We have even taken people to ICPC and EFCC,” he said.
The SUBEB Chairman also applauded Gov. Ahmed Aliyu Sokoto for according top priority to education, insisting that the primary and basic education sector has never had it so good like under Aliyu.
“This is not surprising as Gov. Ahmed Aliyu Sokoto’s 9-Point Smart Agenda focuses greater attention on revamping the education sector after it was almost left moribund by the immediate past administration,” he said.
Tambuwal also announced that Sokoto State has accessed N3.7 billion in UBEC intervention funds for 2025, with matching funds from the state government of equal amount.
He said the state is targeting N12 billion for the 2026 action plan, comprising N6 billion from UBEC and N6 billion counterpart funding from the state.
” In 2025 N3.7 billion was gotten from UBEC. The state government is supposed to give the same amount and we have the approval.
“Then 2026 is N 6 billion, and the state will also bring N6 billion to make it N 12 billion,” he stated.
The SUBEB Chairman stressed that the funds are targeted at improving quality in basic education, which he described as key to national development.
“Basic education is always about quality and not quantity. Any country that lacks basic education will have problems. No country will develop without basic education,” Tambuwal said.
He further added that Sokoto is up to date with UBEC counterpart funding, and that education remains one of the nine-Point Smart Agenda of Gov. Aliyu.
“As far as Sokoto State is concerned, we don’t have a problem accessing our counterpart funding. We are up to date,” he said.
The Chairman said basic education in the state is free and compulsory, while the government has prioritized teacher welfare through payment of the national minimum wage and regular promotions.
He listed projections for the next one year to include teacher training three times annually, school greening through tree planting, support for community poultry farming, and capacity building for SBMC members in primary and junior secondary schools.
Tambuwal appealed to the people of the state to take ownership of the myriad of educational infrastructure provided by the APC-led Sokoto State Government, urging them to protect the structures against vandalism.
