• Commission explains listing of constituency projects outside NASS allocations
By Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has accused the Federal Government of allegedly inserting road projects worth billions of naira into the 2026 budget of the National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children’s Education (NCAOOSCE).
Atiku, in a statement by his media aide, Phrank Shaibu, expressed concern that road construction, which is outside the mandate of the commission, was allegedly inserted into the budget of the agency.
The former vice president said the National Assembly must explain to Nigerians how road projects found their way into the budget of the Almajiri commission.
Atiku, African Democratic Congress (ADC) 2027 presidential candidate, said it was a betrayal for the agency to be converted to a road contractor at a time 20 million Nigerian children who it is meant to serve are out of school.
According to him, “on page 2236 of the Appropriation Act, 2026, under the budget of the National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children Education—an agency established to address the national emergency of millions of out-of-school children—the Tinubu administration inserted billions of naira for road construction projects that have absolutely nothing to do with the Commission’s statutory mandate.
“According to the budget, about N1.4 billion was earmarked for the rehabilitation and construction of Obasanjo-Itele Road, Nazareth Road Oke Ola, Imeko, Idogo Township Road and the construction of Odedeyo-Mewuro Road. Another N1.4 billion was budgeted for a road from Eyini High School to Lusada Junction Road, Ibooro, Idiya Central Community Road, Roundabout Abeokuta, Ile Ise Community Asuje Road and Soyote Community Road in Abeokuta.
“Yet another N1.05 billion was set aside for Pakuj-Yporan Township Road in Ipokia Ward 2, while an additional N1.05 billion was allocated for RCC Opposite Honda Agbebi Community Road and Ajuwon Baale Road. “The question that naturally arises is this: Since when did the National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children Education become a road construction agency?
“At a time when over 20 million Nigerian children remain outside the classroom, when schools are collapsing under the weight of neglect and when the Almajiri crisis continues to threaten the future of an entire generation, the decision to convert an education commission into a contractor for road projects represents not merely a distortion of priorities but a cruel betrayal of the very children the Commission was created to serve.”
Atiku added that “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu cannot claim ignorance of these developments. The budget is his budget. The Appropriation Act bears his signature. The agencies involved operate under his administration. “If billions of naira can be hidden under agencies with no legal mandate to execute such projects, then either the President approved these distortions or he was completely unaware of what was happening under his watch.
“The first possibility would amount to complicity. The second would amount to an admission of an absentee presidency where consequential decisions are being taken without the knowledge or supervision of the President. Neither possibility is flattering.”
Furthermore, the former vice president stated that “the National Assembly must also explain how these bizarre appropriations escaped legislative scrutiny. Parliament was established as the watchdog of the public purse and not as an assembly whose principal function is to chant ‘On Your Mandate ‘ while obvious irregularities sail through the appropriation process without interrogation. “Nigeria cannot continue on this dangerous path where budgets are treated as instruments for patronage and public institutions are converted into conduits for questionable expenditures.
“As the saying goes, darkness cannot conquer darkness. Expecting this administration to wage a sincere war against corruption increasingly appears like expecting the sun to rise in the west and set in the east. It is a distant impossibility.
“The Nigerian people deserve answers, and this administration owes them nothing less than a full, transparent and independent investigation into these troubling revelations.”
Meanwhile, NCAOOSCE, in a statement by its Special Adviser on Media and Communications to the Executive Secretary, Mr Nura Muhammad in Abuja, yesterday, said the projects were incorporated into the 2026 Appropriation Act under the long-standing budgetary practice whereby constituency projects were assigned to Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) for execution.
“As part of the duly enacted federal budget, every project assigned to the commission formed part of its implementation responsibilities and would be executed in strict compliance with extant laws, financial regulations and due procurement processes.”
He reaffirmed that the commission statutory mandate remained unchanged, stressing that it was established to coordinate national efforts toward reforming the Almajiri system of education and tackling the challenge of out-of-school children.
He also said the commission remained committed to expanding access to quality education, strengthening Almajiri education, supporting states and other stakeholders, as well as implementing programmes that directly improve the lives of vulnerable children across the country.
Muhammad said that the commission had already identified and profiled more than 700,000 out-of-school children nationwide and established 119 learning centres across the country.
He added that the commission had also sustained ward-to-ward advocacy and community mobilisation while pursuing the full implementation of the National Policy on Almajiri to reform the system and address the social vices associated with it.
He reiterated that addressing the plight of Almajiri and out-of-school children remained its foremost priority.
He expressed appreciation for the continued support of the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, the Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Ahmad, and other stakeholders in advancing its mandate.
