INTRODUCTION
The primary role of the Legal Unit is to interpret laws and instruments entered into/executed by the Commission and in the event of any litigation represent the Commission in Court(s) through external solicitors.
It is directly supervised by the Special Adviser to the Executive Secretary.
FUNCTIONS
With the impact of the Commission‟s activities being felt nationwide, the Unit‟s role includes among others:
- proffering legal advice to the Commission; and in some instances, to State Universal Basic Education Boards;
- drafting and executing legal instruments entered into by the Commission viz; development partners wishing to intervene in basic education, etc;
- liaising with Insurance Companies & Banks on the confirmation of Contractors Advance Payment Guarantees, Performance Securities and liaising with appropriate departments and consultant(s) on contract/project matters;
- Alternative Dispute Resolution and other controversies without resulting to litigation;
- liaising between the Commission and Security Agencies e.g. EFCC, ICPC, Police Force, etc.;
- final signatory to State‟s Action Plans; and
- performs any additional duties assigned to it by the Executive Secretary.
ACTIVITIES DONE (ROUTINE)
The various tasks carried out by the Unit include the following:
Documentation of Contract agreement(s) on:
- Constituency Projects from October [1] till date;
- Instructional materials from October 2020 till date;
- Direct/Special Intervention from October 2020 till date;
- Consultants for North East Intervention projects from October 2020 till date;
- Boy/Girl Child from December 2020 till date;
- Construction of UBEC Vocational Schools from Oct 2020 till date;
- Construction of Modified Second Chance Schools Oct 2020-till date; – Construction of UBEC ECCDE Centers Oct 2020-till date; and
- Insured the Commission‟s assets for the year 2020, February 2020 – March 2021.
ACHIEVEMENTS
During the year under review, the Unit recorded the following achievements:
The Unit brokered peace by facilitating Out-of-Court Settlement in the following cases:
- Vasalva Ventures Ltd Vs Vasalva Ventures Corporate Investment Ltd & UBEC; and
- Rilwanu Mohammed Bawa Vs Bauchi Local Education Authority & Bauchi SUBEB (Bauchi State being one of the BESDA beneficiary state notified UBEC of the suit and UBEC intervened which resulted in an Outof-Court Settlement).
CONSTRAINT/CHALLENGE
In view of the fact that the legal profession is dynamic and ever changing, there is need for constant training and retraining of staff.
ONGOING/FUTURE ACTIVITIES
The following are the on-going activities being undertaken by the Unit:
Liaising with SUBEBs on cases involving the Commission viz;
- The Registered Trustees of Socio-Economic Rights & Accountability Project (SERAP) Vs Universal Basic Education Commission & 20 others;
- Documentation of all contracts entered into by the Commission;
- Amicable dispute resolution between Contractors and the Commission; and
- Liaise with the appropriate departments on projects execution.
