The Kaduna State Government has faulted Alhaji Isa Ashiru, the governorship candidate of African Democratic Congress (ADC), over his criticism of the government’s education funding.
Commissioner for Information and Culture, Malam Ahmed Maiyaki, said Ashiru was entitled to criticise the government but should base his arguments on verifiable facts.
Maiyaki said Ashiru’s claim that UNESCO recommended 15 to 20 per cent budget allocation to education was inaccurate.
He said the Education 2030 Framework for Action recommended at least four to six per cent of GDP or 25 per cent of total public expenditure for education.
According to him, Kaduna allocated 25 per cent of its total budget to education in 2024 and 26.14 per cent in 2025.
He added that the state allocated 25 per cent of its N985.9 billion 2026 budget, representing about N246.5 billion, to education.
“For three consecutive years, Governor Uba Sani has committed about one-quarter of Kaduna State’s annual budget to education,” Maiyaki said.
The commissioner said the investment had produced measurable results in basic education, tertiary education and skills development across the state.
He said the National Board for Technical Education recognised three skills development and vocational training centres established by the administration among Nigeria’s best-equipped facilities.
Maiyaki said Kaduna had reduced its out-of-school children population from over 550,000 to 187,719 within three years.
He attributed the reduction to sustained investments, enrolment campaigns and infrastructure development across the state.
The commissioner said the Federal Government had also drawn from Kaduna’s experience in developing national interventions on skills training and tackling the out of school children challenge.
On Kaduna State University, Maiyaki said the administration had made several financial interventions to improve staff welfare and sustain academic activities.
He said the government provided more than N800 million for staff welfare and about N146 million for withheld salaries and SIWES related obligations.
Maiyaki added that the government provided N50 million monthly as a standing intervention to support the institution.
He said the state also provided over N200 million in overhead support to KASU in 2026 alone.
According to him, more than N300 million was provided for accreditation of 57 academic programmes and resource verification for 60 postgraduate programmes.
Maiyaki said the interventions contributed to full accreditation of seven professional programmes and the establishment of the university’s Digital Learning Centre.
He disclosed that the administration had committed more than N1.6 billion to scholarships and other student support programmes.
The commissioner added that the government had reduced tuition fees by 50 per cent across state owned tertiary institutions.
He said the interventions were inconsistent with claims that the administration was “lukewarm” towards education.
On claims that about 200 professors and academic staff resigned from KASU over poor working conditions, Maiyaki challenged the proponents to provide evidence.
He urged those making the allegation to provide names of the affected academics, resignation dates and reasons stated for leaving the university.
“Repetition does not turn an unverified allegation into fact,” Maiyaki said.
He said the government recognised ASUU KASU’s role in advocating for members’ welfare and remained committed to constructive engagement on genuine outstanding issues.
Maiyaki, however, said domesticating Federal Government ASUU agreements in state owned universities required serious legal, financial and institutional consideration.
He cautioned against reducing such matters to political grandstanding, saying the government remained focused on sustainable improvements in the education sector. (NAN)
