The federal government has approved the establishment of six new federal colleges of education in each of the six geo-political zones of the country.
A spokesperson for the Federal Ministry of Education, Ben Gooong, confirmed this to PREMIUM TIMES Thursday night.
The new institutions would be located at Bauchi, Benue, Ebonyi, Osun, Sokoto, and Edo States.
A letter signed by the permanent secretary in the ministry of education, Sunny Echono, said an inspection was due for May 11 to “facilitate early take-off.’
The Osun school is to be located in Iwo Local Government Area, PREMIUM TIMES learned.
The Oluwo of Iwoland, Abdulrosheed Akanbi, in a statement commended President Muhammadu Buhari for approving the school.
READ ALSO: Government official pays school fees for 723 students, pupils in Cross River
The monarch assured the federal government of his community’s readiness to provide the necessary support for the take-off of the institution.
“Also, I assure the Federal Government government of Iwo community’s necessary support to ensure a smooth take-off of the college. I have more than enough expanse of land while we assured you of other necessary support,†he said.
There are 152 colleges of education in Nigeria, consisting of 21 federal, 82 private and 49 state colleges.
N2.67B School Feeding Fraud: Minister orders investigation
The minister says school principals explained that the payments had to do with debts owed food vendors.
The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, has directed a full investigation into the report of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on how N2.67 billion released for school feeding of the 104 Unity Colleges during the COVID-19 lockdown found its way into individual accounts.
Mr Adamu in a statement signed by the spokesperson of the federal ministry of education, Ben Gooong, said the investigation is compulsory in order to establish the ‘’veracity of the claims and to ensure that there is no diversion of public funds or misappropriation of same.â€
PREMIUM TIMES reported how the chairperson of the anti-graft agency, Bolaji Owasanoye, said investigations done by the ICPC had shown that the said funds were diverted into private accounts.
“We discovered payment of N2.67 billion during lockdown when the children were not in school, and some money ended up in personal accounts. We have commenced investigations into these findings,†he said.
However, the education minister said the principals explained that payments made during the lockdown period had to do with debts owed food vendors even before COVID-19, ‘some of which are still pending.’
“In response to queries issued by the Federal Ministry of Education, the Principals explained that payments on meal subsidies to Unity Colleges on the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System, (GIFMIS) platform is designed to accommodate individual officers of those colleges who are officially recognized to receive such payments and disburse the same to food vendors. This followed difficulties encountered by farmers, local food vendors, and market women who do not have Tax Identification Numbers (TIN), PENCOM, and other requirements to access the payment platform,†he said.
The minister also said the principals said the debts arose from irregular and inadequate budgetary allocations and releases over the years.
“The ministry, in line with the Minister’s directive, is to collaborate effectively with officials of the ICPC to unearth the facts as well as find a lasting solution to the payment system for meal subsidies that will ensure accountability and transparency,†he said.
‘Not true’
PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported how the minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq, said she did not misappropriate N2.67 billion meant for feeding school children during the COVID-19 induced lockdown, under the Home Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP).
ALSO READ: ICPC clarifies position on N2.67bn school feeding fraud allegation
The minister said the report from the ICPC was misunderstood.
“The amount traced by the commission on school feeding is not the same as the federal government Home-Grown School Feeding Programme under the Social-National Social Investment Programmes (SIPs),†she said.
Ms Farouq had to issue the clarification when it became obvious the statement of Mr Owasanoye was misconstrued to be an indictment of her ministry which handles the Home Grown School Feeding Programme.
Mr Owasanoye also issued a press statement to clear the air on his earlier tweets which said the alleged diversion was funds budgeted for feeding boarding students in the federal unity schools.
![President Muhammadu Buhari [Photo: Presidency]](https://i0.wp.com/media.premiumtimesng.com/wp-content/files/2020/10/Muhammadu-Buhari-2014-e1601981050738.jpg?fit=640%2C329&ssl=1)
Buhari to present 2021 budget Thursday
According to the proposal contained in the 2021- 2023 MTEF/FSP), sent to the Senate in July, the budget will be on a deficit of N5.16 trillion and will be partly financed by a total loan package of N4.28 trillion.
President Muhammadu Buhari will present the 2021 budget estimate at a joint session of both chambers of the National Assembly at 11 a.m. on Thursday.
This announcement was conveyed in a letter he sent to the Senate and was read out by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, at the start of plenary on Tuesday.
“May I crave the kind indulgence of the Distinguished Senate to grant me the slot of 11:00hrs on Thursday, 8th October 2020, to formally present the 2021 Appropriation bill to the Joint Session of the National Assembly.
“While I look forward to addressing the Joint session, please, accept Mr Senate President, the assurances of my highest regard,†the letter read.
This comes about a week after the House of Representatives approved the Medium Term Expenditure (MTEF), the Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) and put the total proposed 2021 expenditure at N13.08 trillion.
Last week, Mr Lawan said the Senate will provide a one-month window for budget defence by Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
“Like last year, the month of October, 2020 will be dedicated for this exercise. Subsequent months of November and December will be dedicated to the internal processing of the Budget by NASS.
“The various MDAs are therefore advised to ensure that they avail themselves the opportunity of the Budget defense window to appear with all the relevant and necessary information to defend their Budget Estimates.â€
According to the proposal contained in the 2021- 2023 MTEF/FSP), sent to the Senate in July, the budget will be on a deficit of N5.16 trillion and will be partly financed by a total loan package of N4.28 trillion.
The proposed budget also targets N481.41 billion as statutory transfers – also known as first line charge (a category into which the National Assembly budget falls) and N5.75 trillion as recurrent expenditure, N3.33 trillion for capital expenditure and N3.12 trillion for debt servicing.
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