A fresh angle has been introduced into the controversy over the N8.4 billion for road construction in the 2026 budget for the National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children Education, with the commission insisting that members of the National Assembly inserted the projects.

This comes amid the renewed calls for improved transparency and accountability in public spending, with fears that such allocations could undermine the effective delivery of programmes aimed at tackling the country’s education crisis, including the challenge of millions of school dropouts and out-of-school children.

In a statement yesterday, the commission’s spokesperson, Nura Muhammad, maintained that the projects falling outside the agency’s statutory mandate were constituency projects inserted by the National Assembly.

According to Muhammad, “these projects are National Assembly constituency projects incorporated into the 2026 Appropriation Act for implementation through the Commission.

This is in line with the long-standing budgetary practice under which constituency projects are assigned to Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) for execution through the Appropriation Act.

“As part of a duly enacted federal budget, every project assigned to the commission forms part of its implementation responsibilities and will be executed in strict compliance with extant laws, financial regulations.

Nevertheless, Muhammad said the commission remains focused on its core mandates of expanding access to quality education, strengthening Almajiri education, supporting states and other critical stakeholders, and implementing programmes that directly improve the lives of millions of vulnerable children across the country.

It will be recalled that in the 2026 budget, there were also several other off-mandate projects located in Ogun, Ekiti and Katsina states, including the procurement of ambulances and medical equipment, and the installation of solar power facilities.