The House of Representatives has summoned the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, and the Accountant-General of the Federation, Shamseldeen Ogunjimi, to explain the outstanding ₦75bn reportedly borrowed from the Universal Basic Education Commission.
The House Public Accounts Committee directed the two officials to appear before it on October 22 to provide a definite repayment timetable and commit to a date for settling the debt.
The lawmakers issued the directive on Friday following concerns over the withdrawal of funds belonging to government agencies without clearly defined repayment terms, adequate notification or an established regulatory framework.
At the hearing in Abuja, the committee, presided over by its Deputy Chairman, Jeremiah Umaru, faulted the practice of using funds belonging to one government institution to meet the financial obligations of another without clear conditions governing such transactions.
The committee insisted that every inter-agency borrowing arrangement must have defined terms, including a repayment deadline.
“For each borrowing, there should be terms and conditions attached. We want to know what your plan is. You borrowed money for certain reasons, but you should be willing to return it within a specific period, even without interest, since it is government-to-government,” the committee said.
Umaru said the presence of the finance minister and the Accountant-General was necessary to secure a binding commitment on when the outstanding amount would be repaid.
“The main issue we are looking at is ₦75bn. We need the Accountant-General to appear in person, and we want the Honourable Minister to appear in person too so that we can get a timeline,” he said.
He added, “We want to agree on when this money will be paid so that we can close this matter once and for all.”
The lawmakers warned that withholding funds belonging to UBEC could disrupt the commission’s basic education interventions nationwide, particularly programmes that depend on federal funding and counterpart contributions from state governments.
They also questioned the reported deductions of up to 50 per cent of the revenues of some government agencies on a monthly or quarterly basis, expressing concern that the practice lacked a clearly established regulatory framework.
According to members of the committee, the deductions had affected the ability of some agencies to pay salaries and finance essential operations.
“The agencies cannot do anything now because of those deductions. They use these monies to pay staff and fund their operations, but they can no longer do so because the funds have been taken without prior notification,” the lawmakers said.
Responding on behalf of the Accountant-General, a Deputy Director in the office, Ezeoke Christopher, acknowledged the borrowings, explaining that the arrangements were intended to address funding gaps and meet the government’s statutory obligations.
He said the financial arrangements were partly driven by the need to meet personnel costs reportedly exceeding ₦1tn monthly.
The Accountant-General’s office also told the committee that efforts had been made to refund up to ₦90bn, although more than ₦70bn remained outstanding.
The explanations provided by Christopher and the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Muhammed Danjuma, did not satisfy the lawmakers, who insisted that the principal officials must appear personally to account for the outstanding debt and provide a firm repayment schedule.
The committee maintained that financial arrangements between government agencies must not undermine the operations of institutions established to carry out specific statutory responsibilities.
Meanwhile, the Executive Secretary of UBEC, Olajumon Akinyemi, informed the committee that more than 20 states accessed their matching grants in 2025, while over 13 states had accessed theirs in 2026.
He identified Imo, Ogun, Anambra, Lagos, Kwara and Katsina as states with outstanding issues concerning counterpart funding, adding that several other states were taking steps to meet the requirements.
Akinyemi also disclosed that the Universal Basic Education Act was before the National Assembly for amendment to empower the commission to redeploy funds left unaccessed by states for two years.
The proposed amendment is intended to improve the utilisation of basic education funds by allowing resources that remain unused beyond the stipulated period to be redirected rather than left idle indefinitely.
Following the deliberations, the committee resolved that Oyedele, Ogunjimi and Akinyemi must appear in person on October 22 to address the outstanding repayment and related funding issues.
The investigation comes amid concerns over the management of public funds and the need to ensure that money allocated to government agencies is used for its intended purposes.
For UBEC, the availability of funds is essential to implementing programmes aimed at strengthening basic education, including interventions that require state governments to provide counterpart contributions.
The committee said its action was intended to strengthen financial accountability, ensure responsible management of public resources and protect funding meant to support the education of Nigerian children.
