Twenty-one Nigerian states have failed to access N97.5 billion in matching grants from the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), exacerbating the nation’s out-of-school children crisis. To access these funds, states are legally required to provide a 50 percent counterpart contribution and meet transparency benchmarks, including data reporting and signing subsidiary loan agreements. Analysts attribute the persistent failure to claim these funds to poor sub-national governance, administrative bottlenecks, and a reluctance to comply with external verification requirements. While Imo, Ogun, and Rivers states are among the highest defaulters, stakeholders are calling for stricter accountability measures, including the potential deduction of counterpart funds at source, to ensure essential education infrastructure projects are prioritized.