The Kano State Government reportedly disbursed ₦235.4 million for the construction of classroom blocks at a school that does not appear to exist, according to a joint investigation by civic accountability platform Tracka and the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ). The project, listed in Kano's Fourth Quarter 2025 Budget Implementation Report, was meant to build two four-classroom storey blocks with offices and a store at Government Girls Senior Secondary School (GGSSS), Permanent Site, Massu, in Sumaila Local Government Area. However, field inspections and official records suggest the school is either missing or unknown to residents.
Tracka's Field Visit Raises Red Flags
Tracka, a BudgIT initiative that monitors government projects, disclosed on its X page on Wednesday that its team visited the Massu community in June 2026 to verify the project. The group reported that residents told its team they had never heard of any school called GGSSS, Permanent Site, Massu. Even after visiting several villages across Massu Ward, the team found no school bearing that name.
The budget implementation report explicitly records the release of ₦235.4 million for the construction of two four-classroom storey blocks, including offices and a store, at the said school. Tracka has now demanded that the Kano State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) explain why such a significant sum was disbursed for a project whose site cannot be located.
Official Records Omit the School
FIJ independently reviewed the budget report and confirmed the payment entry. However, its search of Kano State Government's official online directory of secondary schools found no listing for GGSSS, Permanent Site, Massu. Instead, the directory lists several girls' secondary schools in Sumaila LGA, including GGSS Gala, GGSS Guzai Sumaila, and GGSS Sitti. None matches the name in the budget report.
A 2023 World Bank report titled 'A review of the Environmental and Social Management Plan for Rehabilitation of 1,228 Schools in Kano State (Final Report)' also omits any mention of GGSSS Permanent Site Massu. The report lists numerous public secondary schools in Sumaila LGA, such as GSS Massu, GGASS Sumaila, GGSS Burum Burum, and GGSS Sitti, but not the school in question.
Further Scrutiny and Unanswered Questions
FIJ also cited previous reports on Kano's school merger policy, which mention schools like GSS Sumaila but make no reference to GGSSS, Permanent Site, Massu. Attempts to verify the school through the Nigerian Education Management Information System (NEMIS) School Records Explorer were unsuccessful, as the website was displaying unrelated gambling content at the time.
Tracka has posed two key questions to the Kano State Government: Why was ₦235.4 million disbursed for a school that residents say does not exist? And if the project was meant to establish a new school, why had construction not begun despite the reported release of funds? The civic organisation urged Kano SUBEB to publicly account for the spending. As of the time of publication, no response had been received from the Kano State Government or Kano SUBEB.
