The National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children’s Education (NCAOOSCE) has revealed that projects inserted in its 2026 Appropriation Act which are unrelated to its statutory responsibilities are constituency projects allocated to the commission by the National Assembly for implementation.
Spokesperson to the Executive Secretary of the commission, Mr Nura Muhammad, disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja.
The commission had padded N8.4 billion in the 2026 budget for road construction, which is outside its statutory mandate which is to tackle the challenge of out-of-school children and reduce illiteracy by integrating formal and Qur’anic education and skills acquisition into its curriculum.
Appropriation of the 2026 Appropriations Act revealed that the commission was allocated N22.82 billion, comprising N21.68 billion for capital expenditure and N1.14 billion for recurrent expenditure.
The commission also earmarked for several other off-mandate projects, including the procurement of ambulances and medical equipment and the installation of solar power facilities.
Muhammad revealed that the projects were added to the 2026 federal budget in line with the established practice of assigning constituency projects to Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) for execution.
He said “the Commission wishes to clarify that 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 the duly enacted federal budget, every project assigned to the commission formed part of its implementation responsibilities and would be executed in strict compliance with extant laws, financial regulations and due procurement processes.”
Mohammed explained that t the inclusion of the projects did not alter the commission’s statutory mandate of reforming and addressing the challenge of the Almajiri education system and out-of-school children in the country.
The spokesperson explained that the commission was expanding access to quality education, strengthening Almajiri education, supporting state governments and other stakeholders, and implementing programmes that improve the lives of vulnerable children.
He saidt the commission has identified and profiled more than 700,000 out-of-school children nationwide and established 119 learning centres across the country.
He added that the agency has sustained ward-to-ward advocacy and community mobilisation while pursuing the implementation of the National Policy on Almajiri to reform the system and tackle the social challenges associated with it.
Muhammad said addressing the plight of Almajiri and out-of-school children remains the commission’s top priority, just as he appreciated the support of the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, the Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Ahmad, and other stakeholders in advancing the commission’s mandate.
