Court orders Delta government to disclose spending details of over N200bn UBE funds under Governor Okowa

The Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has ordered the Delta State government to disclose details of how over N200 billion in education funds was spent under the administration of Ifeanyi Okowa.

The presiding judge, Daniel Osiagor, in his ruling ordered Governor Sheriff Oborevwori to disclose 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.

In 2019, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) had asked Okowa’s government to account for the spending of the UBEC funds, but his administration declined at the time.

“I must say that every citizen has a duty to demand transparency and accountability in the governance of public institutions.

“Why should a request for details of disbursement and spending of public funds between 2015-2019 by Delta state be a cause of litigation for four years? Public officials are fast developing a state of anomie and cold feet when confronted with requests for audit reports of public duties and budgets,” Osiagor said.

The judge ordered the Delta state government to “disclose 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, at an average of N17.8 billion monthly.”

“The Delta government is also to disclose details of the primary schools that have benefited from the projects carried out on access to free and quality primary education, including information on indirect costs, uniforms, exercise books, and transport costs to students and their parents,” the ruling stated.

The court further ordered the government to disclose steps taken by the state government to improve the overall welfare of children in primary schools, “including details of the government’s fee-free programme, if any, across primary schools in Delta state”.

In upholding SERAP’s suit, the judge dismissed all the objections raised by the respondents — the Delta State government, Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), and the Delta State Universal Basic Education Board.