NASS confirms transmission of harmonised UBEC amendment bill to president

The National Assembly has confirmed that a bill seeking to more than double the Federal Government’s statutory funding for basic education from two to five per cent of the Consolidated Revenue Fund has been transmitted to President Bola Tinubu for assent.

The harmonised Compulsory, Free Universal Basic Education Act (Amendment) Bill was forwarded to the President on July 30, 2026, after the Senate and House of Representatives reconciled their separate versions of the legislation.

The confirmation has prompted AdvoKC Foundation, a civic accountability organisation tracking the legislation, to urge Tinubu to assent to the bill in time for the proposed increase to be reflected in the 2027 budget.

The existing Universal Basic Education Act provides for two per cent of the Federal Government’s Consolidated Revenue Fund to support implementation of the UBE programme. Confirmation of the transmission was contained in an August 31 letter from the Office of the Clerk to the National Assembly to AdvoKC, which had sought information on the status of the legislation.

The letter, signed by Director, Management, Office of the Clerk to the National Assembly, Dr Bello Babatunde, stated that the harmonised bill had been transmitted to the Presidency a month earlier.

AdvoKC had written to the Clerk on July 29, urging the National Assembly to expedite the harmonisation and transmission of the bill.

The organisation said the five per cent eventually adopted by the National Assembly exceeded the four per cent increase contained in the legislative commitments it had been tracking.

The House had earlier passed a version proposing four per cent, while the Senate subsequently approved five per cent, necessitating harmonisation by the two chambers.

AdvoKC said it sent another letter on August 28 after receiving no formal acknowledgement that the legislation had been transmitted.

The Clerk’s office responded on August 31, confirming that it had been forwarded to the President on July 30.

Project Director of AdvoKC Foundation, Habib Sheidu, described the development as significant for the country’s basic education sector and urged the President to act on the legislation.

“This is a welcome development for Nigeria’s basic education sector,” he said.

“The harmonised Bill does not just meet the 4% both chambers promised in their legislative agendas; it exceeds it.

“With over 18 million Nigerian children currently out of school, getting this Bill signed into law without further delay matters. We are glad the Bill has already been transmitted, and we now urge Mr. President to assent to it in good time for the increased allocation to be reflected in the 2027 budget.”

AdvoKC said it would continue to track the legislation through the presidential assent stage and monitor whether the proposed five per cent allocation is reflected in the 2027 Appropriation Bill.

The amendment, if signed into law, would raise the statutory federal intervention for universal basic education by 150 per cent over the existing two per cent provision.

Beyond the funding increase, the legislation also seeks to broaden the scope of free and compulsory education to include senior secondary education.