Education Ministry Slams Smear Campaign Against UBEC Executive Secretary

Aisha Garba, Executive Secretary, UBEC

The Federal Ministry of Education has strongly condemned what it described as a ‘sponsored smear campaign’ targeting the Executive Secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Aisha Garba.
In an official statement, the Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Alausa, said the Ministry’s attention had been drawn to ‘libellous’ media reports.
Alausa said the report was being circulated by unknown group operating under the name Education Rights Activists Coalition (ERAC).
The group had accused Garba of administrative misconduct and disregard for the rule of law.
The Ministry has dismissed the accusations, describing them as baseless, misleading and malicious.
Alausa said the attacks are deliberate attempt to derail the ongoing reform agenda in basic education under Garba’s leadership.
“Aisha Garba is an internationally recognised education expert with over 24 years of experience, including 15 years at the World Bank.
“She has brought integrity, competence and global best practices to UBEC,” he said.
According to the Ministry, Garba’s tenure has seen major strides in access, equity, and quality of basic education.
“UBEC has constructed nearly 5,000 classrooms, renovated over 3,000 and established nationwide Early Childhood Care and Development centres.
“More than five million textbooks and over 350,000 units of school furniture have also been distributed.
“In the area of teachers’ training, over 147,000 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 (NERDC).
The Ministry also noted that reforms introduced under Garba’s leadership had improved the utilisation of the Basic Education Action Plan (BEAP).
According to the Ministry, the Matching Grant Formula, with N178.6 billion was accessed by 28 states and the FCT in 2024.
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 (FCDO).
“Over 15,000 community projects have been implemented through the School-Based Management Committee–School Improvement Programme,” it said.
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 to Nigerian children,” Alausa said.