Nigeria’s Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Olatunj Alausa, has called for the urgent release of budget allocation from the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) to improve services in the federal government-owned unity Schools across the country, especially in the area of feeding.

The Minister made the call during a courtesy visit paid on him by the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), Mr. Shamsudeen Ogunjimi, in Abuja, Nigeria.

Alauasa said the delay in the release of overhead has led to the inability of the ministry to fund the feeding of the unity schools.

He said there were situations where he had to delay resumption of some Unity Schools because of inadequate funds urging the AGF to help fast-track payments, while proposing for quarterly release of the overhead instead of the current month end release.

he said.

The minister also called for the decentralisation of financial approvals in such a way that transactions under ₦500 million could be processed at the ministry level, and those under ₦100 million at the agency level to enable the pay of contractors on time to enhance efficiency and service delivery in the education sector.

he said.

Nigeria has over 100 Federal Government Colleges, popularly called Unity colleges, spread across the country to promote national unity and bring together students from diverse backgrounds.

It aims to foster a sense of national identity and cohesion among Nigeria youth as they are being prepared to develop the country in future

The Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), Mr Shamsudeen Ogunjimi, while responding said going forward, the OAGF will prioritize funding for the Federal Ministry of Education, especially the release of overhead for timely funding of Unity Schools across the country.

He said funding of the education sector is important because of the fundamental role it plays in building the nation.

He urged the Director of Finance and Accounts (DFA) of the ministry of education to promptly submit a formal request to fast-track the process and enable timely disbursement of funds to the ministry.

he said.

On the request for the bottom to top approach, Ogunjimi acknowledged that the approach is good but due to fiscal deficits, it has become almost impracticable for now as it puts pressure on the limited financial resources of the country.

He, however said the ministry of finance had already set up a high-level committee to review the merits and shortcomings of the bottom-up approach, with outcomes expected in the coming weeks.

Ogunjimi equally acknowledged that the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) had been overwhelmed by the volume of budget documentation being uploaded by agencies due to the centralised system.

he said

Acknowledging the minister’s observation, Ogunjimi said there was the need for most of the contracts that are of less value to be handled at the MDA level so that the OAGF would not have to be populating documents on their system.