Jigawa govt clarifies report of zero spending on education in Q1 2026

The Jigawa State Government has rejected reports that it recorded zero expenditure on education in the first quarter of 2026, saying it spent N29.19 billion on the sector during the period.

The state Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Babangida Umar, stated this while briefing newsmen in his office, describing the reported zero expenditure figure as inconsistent with the state’s official financial records.

The clarification followed a report by TheCable titled, “Kano, Lagos, and Delta led states in education spending in Q1 2026,” which indicated that Jigawa recorded no expenditure on education during the period.

According to the commissioner, the Jigawa State 2026 Q1 Budget Performance Report shows that the state had an original education budget of N231.77 billion for the year and recorded actual expenditure of N29.19 billion in the first quarter, representing 12.6 per cent performance.

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He said the expenditure was captured under “Function 709 – Education” in the official budget performance report.

Umar explained that the expenditure covered various levels and areas of education, including pre-primary and primary, secondary and tertiary education, as well as other education-related services.

He said N10.17 billion was spent on pre-primary and primary education, while N3.64 billion was spent on secondary education and N4.94 billion on tertiary education during the quarter.

The commissioner added that the state recorded N14.59 billion in personnel expenditure and N13.42 billion in capital expenditure under education in the first quarter.

He, however, acknowledged that some individual education budget lines recorded no expenditure during the period, stressing that this should not be interpreted as zero spending by the state on education.

“The official Q1 2026 Budget Performance Report records N29,193,742,109.44 in actual expenditure under Education. It was not zero,” he said.

The commissioner called on TheCable, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, whose data was attributed to in the report, and other media organisations that reproduced the figure to clarify the basis for the N0.00 figure or correct the report.

He also urged journalists, civil society organisations, researchers, development partners and members of the public to examine the state’s official Q1 2026 Budget Performance Report directly.

Umar said the report had been publicly available on the Jigawa State Ministry of Budget’s website since April, stressing that the government remained open to scrutiny of its expenditure and performance.

He said the government’s position was not that every education budget line recorded expenditure in the first quarter, but that the claim that Jigawa spent nothing on education was inaccurate.