Bomba Dauda
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Kaduna State for the 2027 election, Hon. Usman Shehu Bawa (ABG), has accused the Kaduna State Government of neglecting tertiary education and prioritising publicity and overseas travels amid the ongoing crisis between the government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Kaduna State University chapter.
Bawa, in a statement titled “KASU Crisis: Kaduna Cannot Build the Future by Neglecting the Classroom,” said the prolonged dispute had gone beyond an industrial disagreement, describing it as an indication of the worsening state of education in Kaduna.
He said students, parents and lecturers were bearing the consequences of the unresolved crisis, while experienced academics were allegedly leaving Kaduna State University because of poor working conditions and unresolved grievances.
According to him, Kaduna’s education crisis was not limited to the university system, noting that available figures showed that 74.3 per cent of Primary 4 pupils and 63.3 per cent of Primary 6 pupils were unable to attain minimum proficiency in basic literacy.
Bawa also criticised the state’s education budget performance, arguing that actual releases and expenditure were more important than budgetary allocations on paper.
He claimed that the 2026 education sector budget was reduced from N243.9 billion to N219.2 billion, representing a decline from 24.74 per cent to 22.2 per cent of the state budget. He further cited budget implementation figures showing that the education sector’s share of the final budget fell from 27.6 per cent in 2023 to 19.6 per cent in 2024 and 16.9 per cent in 2025.
The PDP candidate said Kaduna State University’s capital budget performance was particularly poor, alleging that only N439.7 million, representing about 2.8 per cent, was released from a combined final capital budget of approximately N15.2 billion for 2024 and 2025.
He also accused the government of spending heavily on international travel, publicity and other administrative expenses while owing university staff N800 million in earned academic allowances.
Bawa cited official expenditure figures which, according to him, showed that about N4.7 billion was spent on international transport and estacodes in 2025, alongside another N2.8 billion on other foreign travel categories. He added that N2.1 billion had already been spent on international travel estacodes by the second quarter of 2026.
He said the government also spent N2.1 billion on publicity and advertisements in 2025 and another N694.6 million by mid-2026, while N1.1 billion was spent on Government House upkeep and cleaning services in 2025.
Bawa called on the Kaduna State Government to immediately return to negotiations with ASUU-KASU and implement the 2025 Federal Government-ASUU Agreement.
“Our students cannot remain collateral damage, our parents cannot continue paying for administrative incompetence, and our lecturers must not be forced to choose between their professional dedication and basic human survival,” he said.
He further unveiled what he called the “Five-Point ABG Education Alternative,” which includes cash-backed budgeting, dedicated funding for tertiary institutions, permanent dialogue with ASUU, reduction of wasteful administrative spending and a public performance dashboard to enable citizens monitor education expenditure.
