By Nathaniel Zaccheaus, Abuja
The Senate on Tuesday expanded its ongoing investigation into the Safe Schools Initiative (SSI), bringing under scrutiny key federal agencies responsible for education funding, student welfare and humanitarian interventions in a sweeping probe into the management of billions of naira earmarked for improving school safety across the country.
The upper chamber also granted its Ad-hoc Committee on the Safe Schools Initiative, chaired by former Senate Chief Whip, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu (APC, Abia North) an additional three weeks to conclude the investigation and submit its report.
The expanded probe will now cover 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).
The resolution followed the adoption of a motion sponsored by Kalu during plenary, with lawmakers arguing that the growing links between school security, education financing and social intervention programmes required a broader legislative inquiry.
Presenting the motion, Kalu said preliminary findings by the committee showed that the Safe Schools Initiative could not be effectively investigated without examining agencies responsible for funding educational infrastructure, student support and welfare 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,” Kalu said.
He explained that widening the committee’s mandate would enable lawmakers to carry out a holistic assessment of how intervention funds have been managed, identify operational gaps and strengthen transparency and accountability across the education sector.
Under the expanded terms of reference, the committee will scrutinise TETFund’s financing of infrastructure and security projects in tertiary institutions, examine NELFUND’s student loan disbursement process, evaluate UBEC’s interventions in basic education, and review humanitarian and social investment programmes linked to school feeding, displaced students and educational rehabilitation.
Kalu also sought more time for the committee to complete its assignment, disclosing that critical aspects of the investigation remained outstanding.
“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 Senate unanimously approved both the request for an extension and the expanded investigative mandate through a voice vote presided over by Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
The decision marks a major escalation of parliamentary scrutiny of education intervention funds following concerns that huge financial commitments to the Safe Schools Initiative have failed to halt persistent attacks on schools or significantly improve the safety of students and teachers.
The Senate inaugurated the investigation in December 2025 amid growing public outrage over repeated attacks on educational institutions, including the abduction of 25 female students of Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, Kebbi State, during which bandits reportedly killed the school’s vice principal.
Established in 2014 after the abduction of 276 schoolgirls from Chibok, Borno State, the Safe Schools Initiative was conceived as a partnership between the Federal Government, the United Nations and private sector stakeholders to strengthen security infrastructure in schools, particularly those in conflict-prone areas.
During previous investigative hearings, lawmakers questioned the utilisation of ₦15 billion released for the initiative in 2023.
The committee was told that the Nigerian Police Force received ₦6.225 billion, while the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps received ₦3.362 billion.
Defence Headquarters reportedly got ₦2.25 billion, while the Federal Ministry of Education received ₦519 million.
The committee also raised concerns over alleged financial irregularities, including consultancy payments connected with the implementation of the initiative.
It directed the Safe Schools Financing Office to provide detailed records of funds released, expenditure, contractors and transactions linked to the Central Bank of Nigeria Trust Fund account.
With the expanded mandate, the Senate committee is expected to undertake one of the most comprehensive reviews of education, humanitarian and student welfare intervention funds in recent years as lawmakers seek to determine whether public resources allocated to the sector have translated into safer schools and improved learning conditions for Nigerian students.
