₦200 PTA Levy: Ambassador Toyo Questions Why Parents Should Fund Education Office Renovation In Ogoja

CROSS RIVER, OGOJA – A proposed ₦200-per-learner-per-term levy in Ogoja Local Government Area of Cross River State has sparked questions over the use of parents’ contributions to finance renovation and furnishing of a government education office.

The issue followed a letter dated September 14, 2026, from the Cross River State Ministry of Education, approving the collection of a “PTA Special Levy” from learners in primary and secondary schools in Ogoja LGA.

The letter, referenced MOE/QAD/OG/205/Vol.1/12, was signed by the Director/Head of Quality Assurance Department, Dr. (Mrs.) Fanny Obeten Ekabua, for the Commissioner for Education.

According to the document, the Commissioner directed approval for the collection of ₦200 per learner per term for six terms from the 2026/2027 academic session.

The stated purpose, according to the ministry, is to enable the Local Government Education Authority (LGEA) to carry out renovation work and provide furniture in its office.

The document also directs the Head of the Quality Assurance Department to supervise the project.

At ₦200 per term, one learner would contribute ₦600 over three terms, while the contribution would amount to ₦1,200 over six terms if the arrangement is implemented exactly as stated in the letter.

The figures have raised questions about whether parents and students should be required to contribute toward the renovation and furnishing of government administrative facilities, particularly where such expenditure would ordinarily be expected to form part of public education administration.

Reacting to the development, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) 2027 Cross River State governorship candidate Ambassador Nkoyo Toyo questioned the decision in a message sent to ) our reporter via WhatsApp.

“Parents and students are asked to pay for the furnishing of government education offices despite the huge sum’s accruing to government,” Toyo said.

She described the arrangement as “a robbery” and urged attention to the cumulative financial implication of such contributions across the education system.

Her calculation points to the potential scale of the levy if a ₦600 annual contribution were sustained for 12 years, which would amount to ₦7,200 per learner.

However, the ministry document presently available specifically concerns learners in Ogoja LGA and does not establish that the levy applies to all pupils and students across Cross River State.

It also does not state the number of learners expected to pay, the projected total revenue, the detailed cost of the renovation, the furniture to be purchased or the mechanism for accounting for the funds collected.

The development therefore raises a central public-interest question: why should learners’ parents be asked to finance the renovation and furnishing of an LGEA office, and what existing public funding arrangement covers such expenditure?

The answers would help establish whether the levy represents a temporary, clearly accounted-for intervention or a broader transfer of government administrative costs to families.

For now, the ministry’s letter provides evidence of the approved ₦200 levy in Ogoja, while Toyo’s comments provide a political and public-accountability challenge to the decision.