Jigawa Rejects ‘Zero Education Spending’ Claim, Says N29.19bn Was Spent in Q1 2026a

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

The state Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Babangida Umar, made the clarification while briefing journalists in his office, saying the reported N0.00 figure did not reflect the state’s official financial records.

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

Umar said the Jigawa State 2026 Q1 Budget Performance Report showed an original annual education budget of N231.77 billion, with actual expenditure of N29.19 billion recorded in the first quarter. He said this represented 12.6 per cent budget performance.

According to the commissioner, the expenditure was recorded under “Function 709 – Education” in the official budget performance report and covered different levels and areas of the education sector.

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

Umar added that education-related spending included N14.59 billion in personnel expenditure and N13.42 billion in capital expenditure during the first three months of the year.

The commissioner acknowledged that some individual education budget lines recorded no expenditure in Q1, but stressed that this should not be interpreted as the state spending nothing on education.

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

He called on TheCable, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, whose data was cited in the report, and other media organisations that reproduced the figure to explain the basis for the N0.00 entry or correct the information.

Umar also urged journalists, civil society organisations, researchers, development partners and members of the public to consult Jigawa State’s official Q1 2026 Budget Performance Report when assessing the state’s education spending.

He said the document had been publicly available on the Jigawa State Ministry of Budget’s website since April, adding that the government remained open to scrutiny of its spending and performance.

The commissioner clarified that the government was not claiming that every education budget line recorded spending during the quarter. Rather, he maintained that the broader claim that Jigawa spent nothing on education in Q1 2026 was inaccurate.