The National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children’s Education (NCAOOSCE) has defended the inclusion of several multi-billion naira road construction projects in its 2026 budget, explaining that the contracts were inserted by lawmakers as constituency projects.
The clarification follows an investigative report by Daily Trust, which revealed that the agency—tasked fundamentally with tackling the nation’s out-of-school children crisis and reforming traditional Arabic education—had earmarked ₦8.4 billion for road infrastructure under its 2026 capital expenditures.
In a statement released on Tuesday in Abuja, Nura Muhammad, the Special Adviser on Media and Communications to the commission’s Executive Secretary, noted that the inclusion of off-mandate projects does not alter the core objectives of the agency. Instead, he attributed the anomalies to a “long-standing budgetary practice” where the National Assembly houses constituency projects under various Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) for execution.
“The Commission wishes to clarify that these projects are National Assembly constituency projects incorporated into the 2026 Appropriation Act for implementation through the Commission,” Muhammad stated. He added that because these items are legally enshrined in the federal budget, the commission is mandated to execute them in strict compliance with procurement laws and financial regulations.
A breakdown of the 2026 Appropriation Act shows that the commission was allocated a total of ₦22.82 billion, split into ₦21.68 billion for capital projects and ₦1.14 billion for recurrent expenditures. Alongside the ₦8.4 billion earmarked for roads, the budget also features other unusual allocations for an educational body, including the purchase of medical equipment, ambulances, and solar power installations.
Despite taking on these external infrastructural tasks, the commission insisted that its core mission to integrate formal education, digital literacy, and vocational skills into the Almajiri system remains unaffected.
Highlighting the agency’s progress, Muhammad stated that the NCAOOSCE has already profiled more than 700,000 out-of-school children across Nigeria and launched 119 active learning centers. He reiterated the leadership’s dedication to executing the National Policy on Almajiri to permanently resolve the social vulnerabilities facing these children, expressing appreciation to the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, and the Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Ahmad, for their ongoing strategic support.
