Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has called on the administration of President Bola Tinubu to account for the ₦144.86 billion allocated under the National Plan on Financing Safe Schools for 2023 to 2026, following reports that schools in about 40 local government areas have been shut down due to attacks by armed groups.
Atiku, who is the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), said the school closures exposed a direct contradiction at the heart of the government's education security programme. His Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, disclosed this in a statement made available to Legit.ng on Tuesday, August 11, 2026.
Atiku Demands Transparency on Safe Schools Spending
Atiku asked the administration to publish a full breakdown of how the Safe Schools funds were used, including which agencies and contractors received money, which schools were covered, what security infrastructure was put in place, and what measurable results were achieved.
He described the situation in Borno State as particularly troubling. Gunmen abducted 36 students and a staff member of Government Day Secondary School, Lassa, in Askira/Uba Local Government Area during examinations in late June 2026. Separately, 42 pupils remained missing after an attack on May 15, 2026, in Mussa.
"Budgeting money is not the same thing as securing schools. Announcing programmes is not the same thing as protecting children. The true measure of a Safe Schools programme is whether our children can actually go to school safely. By that elementary test, the present approach is failing."
Atiku also challenged President Tinubu directly over public claims that security forces know the locations of kidnappers and terrorists. He said Nigerians do not need another assurance that the government knows where the terrorists are; they want to know why the terrorists are still there and why children are still with them.
Atiku Outlines Alternative Security Approach
Atiku said his own approach to school security would be built around communities rather than contracts issued from Abuja. He described plans for early-warning systems near vulnerable schools, intelligence sharing between communities and security agencies, and defined rapid-response plans for high-risk locations.
He argued that the consequences of school closures go beyond education, warning that children forced out of classrooms become more vulnerable to poverty, child labour, early marriage and radicalisation. "Every school that closes creates another opening for poverty, child labour, early marriage, exploitation and radicalisation," he said.
Atiku concluded by saying the government could not claim success on school security while armed groups continued to determine whether institutions opened or remained shut. "Nigeria cannot educate its way out of poverty if terrorists are allowed to lock the classroom door. Under our government, criminals will not determine when Nigerian schools open. The Nigerian government shall," he said.
