Performance of federal education agencies in 2016 not encouraging —Wamakko

Sen. Aliyu Wamakko(APC-Sokoto Central), the Chairman, Senate Committee on Basic and Secondary Education, on Monday said the performance of agencies under the Federal Ministry of Education in 2016 was not encouraging.

Wamakko made the observation while speaking with journalists in Sokoto on the ongoing 2017 budget defence at the National Assembly.

“There are 17 agencies under my committee and fourteen had since defended their budgets.

“This is being meticulously done to review their performance in 2016, know the successes and challenges as well as chart the way forward.

“Their performance in 2016 was not very encouraging and was just between 40 and 43 per cent.”

Wamakko said that there were formidable challenges that caused the poor performance of these agencies in 2016.

The former governor said that one of the factors was the delay in the passage of the 2016 budget.

“It was passed in June, while there was also delay in the release of funds.

“Even when the funds were released, only personal emoluments and overheads got 100 per cent releases to the detriment of capital projects.

“The National Assembly would do everything within its powers to redress the ugly trend in 2017.

“We will ensure more oversight functions to help overcome these formidable challenges. We will support the executive to overcoming many of the bottlenecks and move the country forward.”