Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project -SERAP has sued all the state governors in the country over what it reported was their nonchalant attitude towards the education of indigent children in Nigeria.
The organization had earlier sued President Muhammadu Buhari for allowing the industrial action embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities to be prolonged. The organization has reported that the APC-led administration had displayed a lack of interest in the education of poor children which has resulted in the shutting down of polytechnics and colleges of education in the country.
In a tweet on its verified Twitter handle on Sunday, SERAP accused all the state governors in the country of wastage by paying 40 million naira as pensions to all former governors. It further went on to stress that the extravagant step resulted in the shortage of funds currently undermining the smooth running of public education in the country.
In the suit number FHC/L/CS/1120/2022 filed last week at the Federal High Court in Lagos state, SERAP is seeking “an order of mandamus to direct and compel all the state governors in the country to pay the counterpart funds that would enable poor Nigerian children to enjoy access to quality basic education in their different states.”
SERAP is additionally seeking “an order of mandamus to direct and compel the 36 state governors to put in place mechanisms for transparency and accountability in the spending of any accessed matching grants from UBEC”.
The organization stated, “Paying the counterpart funds for basic education in a lot of states would be a huge step forward for children’s rights, and ensure the rights and well-being of all children, irrespective of their socio-economic backgrounds.”
The organization is also arguing, “The report by UBEC that a lot of states have failed to access N51.6bn of matching grants suggests that these states are doing very little to nothing for poor children. It also explains why the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria has continued to rise. The number is currently over 13 million.”
