Jigawa govt clarifies report of zero spending on education in Q1 2026

The Jigawa State Government has dismissed claims that it spent no money on education during the first quarter of 2026, asserting that it allocated N29.19 billion to the sector in that period. Babangida Umar, the state's Commissioner for Budget and Planning, clarified the figure to reporters, highlighting the discrepancy between the reported zero expenditure and the state's official financial records.

TheCable reported earlier that Jigawa, along with Kano, Lagos, and Delta states, led in education spending for Q1 2026, which was inaccurate, according to Umar. The official 2026 Q1 Budget Performance Report shows that the state's education budget was N231.77 billion for the year, with actual spending of N29.19 billion in Q1, constituting 12.6% performance.

Expenditure was spread across pre-primary and primary, secondary, and tertiary education, as well as other education-related services. Umar noted that while some individual education budget lines may have recorded no expenditure during the quarter, the total amount spent on education was not zero. He called on TheCable, the Nigeria Governors' Forum, and other media outlets to clarify the basis for their report or correct it.

Umar urged journalists, civil society organizations, researchers, development partners, and the public to review the state's publicly available Q1 2026 Budget Performance Report on the Jigawa State Ministry of Budget's website.