The Senate on Tuesday widened its investigation into the Safe Schools Initiative (SSI), extending the probe to the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation and the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA).
The upper chamber also granted its Ad-hoc Committee investigating the Safe Schools Initiative an additional three weeks to conclude its assignment.
The resolution followed the adoption of a motion moved by the Chairman of the committee, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu (APC, Abia North), who said preliminary findings showed that the operations of the agencies were closely linked to the implementation of the Safe Schools Initiative.
Kalu told lawmakers that limiting the investigation to the Safe Schools Initiative alone would leave major gaps in the Senate’s oversight of school security, education funding and intervention programmes.
“The issues surrounding student security, educational infrastructure funding and social intervention schemes for vulnerable learners across the country are deeply interwoven. Investigating the Safe Schools Initiative without reviewing these complementary bodies will result in fragmented legislative oversight,” he said.
According to him, the expanded investigation will enable the committee to thoroughly examine how intervention funds have been managed, identify operational challenges and strengthen accountability across the affected agencies.
He added that the probe would also improve transparency in the utilisation of funds earmarked for school security and student welfare.
Under the expanded mandate, the committee will investigate social intervention funds linked to school feeding programmes, emergency support for displaced students and education rehabilitation projects handled by the Humanitarian Ministry and NSIPA.
It will also examine infrastructure and security projects financed by TETFund, review NELFUND’s student loan disbursement process and assess UBEC’s interventions in the basic education sector.
Seeking an extension of time, Kalu explained that the committee could not complete inspections of some critical locations due to time constraints and other legislative engagements.
“We’re supposed to submit our report, and there are four key areas that were not done. I needed the permission of the Senate so that we can conclude it in the next two or three weeks and come back with a report,” he said.
The request was unanimously approved by senators through a voice vote presided over by Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
The Senate launched the investigation in December following growing concerns over repeated attacks on schools despite years of government funding and security interventions.
The probe gained fresh urgency after the abduction of 25 female students of Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, Kebbi State, during which the school’s Vice Principal was reportedly killed by bandits.
The Safe Schools Initiative was established in 2014 after the abduction of 276 schoolgirls from Chibok, Borno State, through a partnership involving the Federal Government, the United Nations and private sector organisations to improve security in schools across vulnerable communities.
During previous hearings, the committee raised questions over the utilisation of the ₦15 billion released for the programme in 2023.
Documents presented before the committee showed that the Nigeria Police Force received ₦6.225 billion, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) got ₦3.362 billion, Defence Headquarters received ₦2.250 billion, while the Federal Ministry of Education received ₦519 million. The allocation to the Department of State Services (DSS) was not disclosed publicly.
Lawmakers also queried alleged financial irregularities and consultancy payments, directing the Safe Schools Financing Office to provide a detailed reconciliation of all funds released, contracts awarded and expenditures from the Central Bank of Nigeria Trust Fund account.
Earlier, the National Coordinator of Financing Safe Schools in Nigeria, Hajiya Halima Iliya, informed the committee that the initiative had received funding from both local and international partners, including $10 million each from the Federal Government and Nigerian business leaders, $1 million from the African Development Bank, €2 million from the German Government, $4 million from the Norwegian Government through UNICEF, as well as support from USAID, the Qatar Foundation and several United Nations agencies.
The committee is expected to determine whether billions of naira allocated for school security, education infrastructure and student welfare have been properly utilised and whether the interventions are achieving their intended objectives.
