Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has challenged the Federal Government to explain how **₦144.86 billion allocated to the Safe Schools programme** has been spent as insecurity continues to force schools to shut across about 40 local government areas.
Atiku described the development as a damning indictment of the Tinubu administration, arguing that the real test of the Safe Schools programme was not the size of its budget but whether Nigerian children could attend school without fear of abduction or attack.
In a statement issued Tuesday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku demanded a comprehensive account of the National Plan on Financing Safe Schools for 2023–2026, including funds released, beneficiaries, schools covered, security infrastructure provided and measurable results achieved.
“Budgeting money is not the same thing as securing schools. Announcing programmes is not the same thing as protecting children. The true measure of a Safe Schools programme is whether our children can actually go to school safely. By that elementary test, the present approach is failing.”
Atiku said the continued closure of schools was particularly troubling given Nigeria’s already severe out-of-school crisis, warning that insecurity was further pushing vulnerable children away from education.
He argued that the failure to secure schools had transformed an education problem into a broader national security challenge.
The ADC candidate pointed specifically to the security situation in Borno State, where reports indicate that **36 students and a staff member of Government Day Secondary School, Lassa, in Askira/Uba Local Government Area, were abducted during examinations in late June**, while **42 pupils reportedly remain missing** following the May 15 attack in Mussa.
Atiku said the continued captivity of the children exposed what he described as a failure of state authority.
“When terrorists can decide whether Nigerian children go to school, they are exercising authority that belongs to the Nigerian state. That is not merely an education crisis. It is a surrender of state authority.”
He challenged President Bola Tinubu to explain why terrorists allegedly known to security agencies have not been dislodged and the abducted children rescued.
“Nigerians do not need another assurance that the government knows where the terrorists are. They want to know why the terrorists are still there — and why our children are still with them.”
Atiku urged the President to deploy security forces to areas where terrorists and kidnappers are believed to operate and ensure the safe recovery of abducted students.
Rather than treating school security as another centralised government programme, Atiku said an ADC administration would build a **decentralised, intelligence-led and community-based security architecture** around vulnerable schools.
He proposed functional early-warning and rapid-response systems, stronger intelligence sharing among communities, schools and security agencies, and clearly defined emergency plans for high-risk schools.
According to him, local communities possess intelligence that is often unavailable to security agencies operating from distant command centres.
“Local communities know their terrain. They know when unfamiliar people enter their communities and often see the warning signs before Abuja does.”
He said his proposed security model would integrate such community intelligence into national security operations rather than waiting until attacks had occurred.
Atiku also promised that every naira committed to school security would be tied to measurable outcomes, with Nigerians able to track the schools protected, infrastructure delivered, agencies responsible and security formations accountable for responding to threats.
“Safe Schools will be measured by children in classrooms, not billions in government documents.”
The former Vice President warned that allowing insecurity to empty classrooms would create consequences extending far beyond education.
“Every school that closes creates another opening for poverty, child labour, early marriage, exploitation and radicalisation.”
He argued that children driven out of school could become more vulnerable to criminal and extremist recruitment, making the protection of education itself a component of national security.
Atiku said it was indefensible for government to commit billions of naira to a Safe Schools programme while armed groups continued to determine whether children could attend classes.
He therefore demanded that the Tinubu administration account for the **₦144.86 billion** and explain why schools remain vulnerable despite the funding.
“Budgetary allocations are not achievements. Press conferences do not protect children. The only result that matters is that a Nigerian child can leave home for school and return safely.”
Atiku said his administration would prioritise community intelligence, vulnerable-school protection, rapid response and transparent monitoring of school-security spending.
“Under our government, criminals will not determine when Nigerian schools open.”
The statement comes as insecurity and the safety of educational institutions emerge as increasingly important issues ahead of the **2027 presidential election**, with opposition parties intensifying scrutiny of the Federal Government’s security policies and expenditure.