The Federal Ministry of Education has condemned a ‘sponsored smear campaign’ targeting the Executive Secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Aisha Garba.
Dr. Maruf Alausa, the Minister of Education, said in a statement that the Ministry had noticed the ‘libellous’ media reports.
Alausa said an unknown group operating under the name Education Rights Activists Coalition was circulating the report.
The group had accused Garba of administrative misconduct and disregard for the rule of law.
The Ministry however, dismissed the accusations, describing them as baseless, misleading and malicious.
Alausa said the attacks are deliberate attempt to derail ongoing reform agenda in basic education under Garba’s leadership.
“Aisha Garba, an internationally recognised education expert, has built over 24 years of experience, including 15 years at the World Bank.
“She has brought integrity, competence and global best practices to UBEC.
“Garba’s tenure has seen major strides in access, equity, and quality of basic education.
“UBEC has constructed nearly 5,000 classrooms and renovated over 3,000 l
“We also established nationwide Early Childhood Care and Development centres.
“They have also distributed more than five million textbooks and over 350,000 units of school furniture.
“Over 147,000 teachers have been trained in modern teaching methods.
“About 978,800 have benefitted from Nigeria’s largest-ever Teacher Professional Development initiative.
The Ministry said plans are underway for major curriculum overhaul to embed digital literacy and entrepreneurship.
It said the overhaul is in partnership with the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council.
The Ministry also noted that reforms introduced under Garba’s leadership improved the utilisation of the Basic Education Action Plan.
It said that in 2024, 28 states and the FCT accessed the N178.6 billion Matching Grant Formula.
It said that institutional partnerships had also been strengthened with major development partners.
“The partners include the World Bank, UNICEF, KOICA, Islamic Development Bank and UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
“The School-Based Management Committee has implemented over 15,000 community projects,” it said.
The Education Ministry’s Stand
The Education Ministry reaffirmed that no financial infractions or breaches had been recorded under Garba’s leadership.
It urged the public to disregard what it called ‘orchestrated falsehoods’.
“We stand firmly with Aisha Garba as she continues her transformational work to deliver quality, safe, and inclusive basic education,” Alausa said.
