Kaduna Govt Challenges Ashiru Over Education Funding Claims

From Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

The Kaduna State Government has challenged the African Democratic Congress (ADC) governorship candidate, Alhaji Isa Mohammed Ashiru, to substantiate his criticisms of Governor Uba Sani’s administration over education funding with verifiable facts.

The state government said its investments in the education sector had consistently met or exceeded relevant national and international benchmarks.

In a statement on Wednesday, Kaduna State Commissioner for Information and Culture, Malam Ahmed Maiyaki, said Ashiru was entitled to criticise the government but should ensure that his claims were based on accurate information.

“Mr. Ashiru is entitled to criticise the government. But when a candidate for the highest office in the state gets basic facts about education funding wrong, a little lesson becomes necessary,” Maiyaki said.

Kaduna Meets Education Funding Benchmark

The commissioner disputed Ashiru’s claim that UNESCO recommends allocating between 15 and 20 per cent of government budgets to education.

According to him, the Education 2030 Framework for Action recommends that countries allocate between four and six per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), or 15 to 20 per cent of total public expenditure, to education.

Maiyaki said Kaduna State had consistently maintained significant budgetary allocations to the sector.

“In 2024, we allocated 25 per cent of our total budget to education. In 2025, it was 26.14 per cent. And in the 2026 budget of N985.9 billion, we again committed 25 per cent, approximately N246.5 billion, to education,” he said.

He added that the figures represented about one-quarter of the state’s annual budget being committed to education for three consecutive years.

Government Highlights Education Investments

Maiyaki said the administration’s investments had produced measurable results in basic, tertiary and technical education.

He said the National Board for Technical Education had recognised three Skills Development and Vocational Training Centres established by the Sani administration as among the best-equipped skills facilities in Nigeria.

On basic education, the commissioner said sustained enrolment campaigns and infrastructure development had reduced the number of out-of-school children in the state from more than 550,000 to 187,719 within three years.

He also claimed that the Federal Government was adopting the “Kaduna model” in its efforts to address skills development and the out-of-school children crisis.

Kaduna Govt Defends Support for KASU

At the tertiary level, Maiyaki highlighted several interventions at Kaduna State University (KASU), including more than N800 million for staff welfare and N146 million for withheld salaries and Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) obligations.

He said the state government was also providing N50 million in monthly support to the university.

According to him, KASU received more than N200 million in overhead support in 2026, while over N300 million was committed to the accreditation of 57 academic programmes and resource verification for 60 postgraduate programmes.

Maiyaki said the interventions contributed to the full accreditation of seven professional programmes and the university’s Digital Learning Centre.

The commissioner further disclosed that the state government had committed more than N1.6 billion to scholarships and student support, while tuition fees had been reduced by 50 per cent at all state-owned tertiary institutions.

“These interventions are hardly the actions of a government that is ‘lukewarm’ towards education,” he said.

Govt Challenges Claim of KASU Staff Resignations

The commissioner also rejected claims that about 200 professors and academic staff had resigned from KASU because of poor working conditions.

He challenged those making the allegation to provide evidence, including the names of the affected academics, their dates of resignation and reasons for leaving.

“Those advancing the claim should provide the names of the alleged 200 academics, their dates of resignation, and their reasons for leaving. Repetition does not turn an unverified allegation into fact,” Maiyaki said.

He, however, acknowledged the role of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), KASU chapter, in advocating for the welfare of its members.

Maiyaki reaffirmed the state government’s commitment to dialogue with the union but said the implementation of Federal Government-ASUU agreements at the state university level required careful consideration.

“Implementing Federal Government-ASUU agreements at the state university level requires serious legal, financial, and institutional consideration, not political grandstanding,” he said.