- Atiku Abubakar criticised the Tinubu administration over reports that schools in about 40 local government areas shut down due to insecurity
- The former vice president raised concerns about a ₦144.86 billion National Plan on Financing Safe Schools covering 2023 to 2026
- Atiku pointed to the abduction of 36 students in Borno State and 42 pupils still missing after a May 2026 attack as evidence of government failure
Legit.ng journalist Adekunle Dada has over 8 years of experience covering metro, government policy, and international issues
FCT, Abuja – ADC presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has called on President Bola Tinubu’s administration to account for ₦144.86 billion set aside under the National Plan on Financing Safe Schools for 2023 to 2026, after reports emerged that schools across about 40 local government areas have closed due to attacks by armed groups.
The former Vice President said the school closures exposed a direct contradiction at the heart of the government’s education security programme.
Atiku’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, disclosed this in a statement issued and made available to Legit.ng on Tuesday, August 11, 2026.
“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 demands transparency on safe schools spending
The former presidential candidate 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.
“When terrorists can decide whether Nigerian children go to school, they are exercising authority that belongs to the Nigerian state. That is not merely an education crisis. It is a surrender of state authority.”
He also challenged President Tinubu directly over public claims that security forces know the locations of kidnappers and terrorists.
“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 our children are still with them.”
Atiku outlines alternative security approach.
Atiku said his own approach to school security, should he take office, 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.”
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.”
Source: Legit.ng