Buhari pledges to spend N1.113T yearly on education in 2022, 2023

By Bayo Onanuga

If President Muhammadu Buhari kept to his pledge to the world, he would spend N1.113T on education in 2022 and budget the same in 2023, the year he would leave office.

The figures were worked out by P.M.News after Buhari made a pledge today to increase the budget for the education sector by as much as 50 percent over the next two years.

This current year, Buhari allocated N742.5 billion to the sector, out of the N14.4 T budget being executed. The amount is the lowest in a decade, calculated as a percentage of the whole.

The National Assembly first approved N13.588T and then last week approved N983B as supplementary.

Education’s share is just 5 percent, falling far below global standards of between 15 and 20 percent of national budget.

Buhari has now pledged to change the narrative a bit, by committing himself in a document titled, Heads Of State Call To Action On Education Financing Ahead Of The Global Education Summit.

Buhari signed the document as a form of commitment at the on-going Summit in London, United Kingdom.

“We commit to progressively increase our annual domestic education expenditure by 50% over the next two years and up to 100% by 2025 beyond the 20% global benchmark.”

The Summit which is being co-hosted by the Prime Minister of UK Boris Johnson and the President of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta seeks to give opportunity for leaders to make 5-year pledges to support GPE’s work to help transform education systems in up to 90 countries and territories.

The full text of the declaration which Buhari signed. P.M.News advises ASUU and all unions in the education to cut it and keep

​“I join my brother, His Excellency, Uhuru Kenyatta, President of the Republic of Kenya to affirm our commitment to improve learning outcomes in our respective countries by ensuring equitable access to quality and inclusive education for all our citizens, with particular emphasis on the girl child.

“We fully endorse the call for more efficient use of resources and to significantly increase investment in education by strengthening institutions, promoting greater adoption of technology, building the capacities of our teachers and mobilizing additional financial resources through legal frameworks and deliberate intervention on a sustainable basis.

“In this regard, we commit to progressively increase our annual domestic education expenditure by 50% over the next two years and up to 100% by 2025 beyond the 20% global benchmark.

28th July, 2021