The Senate has expanded the scope of its investigation into the Safe Schools Initiative to include the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, and the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA).
Also, the Senate granted its ad hoc committee investigating the initiative an additional three weeks to conclude its assignment.
The resolution followed a motion moved by the Chairman of the Senate Ad hoc Committee on the Safe Schools Initiative, Senator Orji Kalu (APC,/Abia North), who sought an extension of time and an expansion of the committee’s terms of reference.
Presenting the motion, Sen. Kalu told lawmakers that preliminary findings revealed strong links between the implementation and funding of the Safe Schools Initiative and several government agencies responsible for education funding, student welfare, humanitarian interventions and social investment programmes.
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According to him, restricting the probe to the Safe Schools Initiative alone would undermine the Senate’s efforts to fully investigate issues affecting school security and education 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,” the senator said.
He argued that broadening the committee’s mandate would enable lawmakers to produce a comprehensive report capable of strengthening accountability, improving transparency in the management of intervention funds and safeguarding students across the country.
Under the expanded mandate, the committee will investigate financial flows, operational challenges and accountability mechanisms across the Safe Schools Initiative and the affected agencies.
The panel will also review social intervention allocations linked to school feeding programmes, emergency relief for displaced students and educational rehabilitation initiatives handled by the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and NSIPA.
In addition, it will audit security and infrastructure projects funded by TETFund in tertiary institutions, examine NELFUND’s loan disbursement process, operational readiness, administrative efficiency and students’ access to education loans, while also assessing UBEC’s interventions in basic education.
Explaining the request for more time, Sen. Kalu said the committee had yet to complete key aspects of its investigation because of its extensive workload and other legislative responsibilities.
“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 approved through a voice vote presided over by Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
The Senate constituted the ad hoc committee in December 2025, following growing concerns over repeated attacks on schools despite years of government funding aimed at improving security in educational institutions.
The investigation gained renewed urgency after the abduction of 25 female students of Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga, Kebbi State, during which bandits reportedly killed the school’s vice principal.
The Safe Schools Initiative was launched in May 2014 after the abduction of 276 schoolgirls from Chibok, Borno State.
The programme, established through a partnership involving the federal government, the United Nations and private sector stakeholders, was designed to strengthen security around schools, particularly in conflict-affected communities.
Previous hearings by the committee focused on the utilisation of ₦15 billion released for the initiative in 2023.
The police received the highest allocation of ₦6.225 billion, while the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) got ₦3.362 billion, Defence Headquarters received ₦2.250 billion, and the Federal Ministry of Education was allocated ₦519 million.
The amount released to the Department of State Services (DSS) was not publicly disclosed.
The committee had also questioned alleged financial irregularities and consultancy payments under the programme and directed the Safe Schools financing office to provide a reconciled breakdown of all funds released, expenditures, contractors and supporting documents relating to the Central Bank of Nigeria Trust Fund account.
During one of the hearings, the National Coordinator of Financing Safe Schools in Nigeria, Hajia Halima Iliya, disclosed that the initiative 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 managed through UNICEF, as well as support from USAID, the Qatar Foundation and other United Nations agencies.
