A Non-profit organisation, IA-Foundation, has called for strict protection of funds allocated for Almajiri and out-of-school children’s education, warning against the use of education agencies as channels for executing unrelated constituency projects.

The foundation raised the alarm following revelations that a substantial portion of the N22.82 billion allocated to the National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children’s Education (NCAOOSCE) in the 2026 Appropriation Act was tied to projects outside the commission’s core mandate.

According to IA-Foundation, about N8.4 billion of the allocation was earmarked for projects, including road construction in Ogun, Katsina and Ekiti states, ambulances, dental equipment, solar streetlights and other interventions unrelated to education.

The commission, however, clarified that it did not originate the projects, explaining that they were constituency projects inserted into its budget by lawmakers and assigned to the agency for implementation.

The spokesperson for NCAOOSCE, Nura Muhammad, said the commission’s mandate remained focused on profiling out-of-school children, establishing learning centres, and expanding access to education for vulnerable children.

The agency said it had so far profiled more than 700,000 children and established 119 learning centres nationwide.

But IA-Foundation, in a statement by its Chief Executive Officer/Founder, Ibironke Adeagbo, said the explanation did not address the broader concern of the integrity and purpose of education funding.

The organisation argued that every naira diverted to roads, ambulances or other non-educational projects through an education agency represented resources taken away from children needing classrooms, teachers, learning materials and support to return to school.

The foundation said: “This is not merely an accounting issue; it is a question of priorities. When an agency established to educate vulnerable children is used, even partially, as a vehicle for unrelated infrastructure projects, the children it was created to serve bear the consequences.”