BY NONYE EKWENUGO
KADUNA
The 2027 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Kaduna State, Usman Shehu Bawa (ABG), has accused the administration of Governor Uba Sani of prioritising overseas travels, publicity and other government expenses over funding tertiary education.
Bawa made the allegation on Tuesday while reacting to the lingering industrial dispute between the Kaduna State Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Kaduna State University (KASU) chapter.
He said the crisis had gone beyond an ordinary industrial dispute, arguing that its prolonged nature was affecting students, parents and lecturers across the state.
“Every single day this crisis persists, real lives are being shattered across our state,” Bawa said.
According to him, students are experiencing delays in their academic programmes, while parents are incurring additional accommodation and living expenses as a result of the disruption.
He also expressed concern over what he described as an exodus of experienced lecturers from KASU due to poor working conditions and unresolved grievances.
“We are actively driving away the brilliant minds responsible for training the doctors, engineers, lawyers, teachers, and innovators who should be building Kaduna’s tomorrow,” he alleged.
Bawa questioned the state government’s commitment to education, saying budgetary allocations contained in official documents did not necessarily translate into actual releases and expenditure.
He cited Kaduna State budget implementation reports for 2023, 2024 and 2025, which he said showed a decline in the proportion of the state’s final budget allocated to education.
According to figures contained in his statement, education accounted for about 27.6 per cent of the final budget in 2023, 19.6 per cent in 2024 and 16.9 per cent in 2025.
He further claimed that the allocation to education in 2026 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.
“The critical danger to our state is not what the government promises on paper, but the total failure to release, spend, and deliver those funds where they are desperately needed,” he said.
The PDP candidate also alleged that KASU had suffered inadequate capital releases, claiming that out of approximately N15.2 billion in combined final capital allocations to the university in 2024 and 2025, only about N439.7 million, representing 2.8 per cent, was released.
“You cannot maintain a functioning institution, let alone build a modern university, on empty promises and non-existent funding,” Bawa said.
He also questioned government spending on international transport and travels, claiming that the state spent approximately N13.2 billion on the item between 2024 and the first half of 2026.
He said the expenditure comprised N2.7 billion in 2024, N8.3 billion in 2025 and N2.2 billion by June 2026.
Bawa contrasted the alleged expenditure with the N800 million in earned academic allowances which he said was owed to university staff.
He further alleged that substantial funds were being spent on Government House maintenance, publicity and advertisements, entertainment and hospitality.
According to him, N2.1 billion was spent on publicity and advertisements in 2025, while another N694.6 million was spent by the middle of 2026.
“While our tertiary institutions bleed from neglect and lecturers fight for their basic survival, the state government is engaging in unconscionable, lavish spending elsewhere,” he alleged.
Bawa urged the state government to immediately return to negotiations with ASUU-KASU and address the grievances responsible for the continuing crisis.
He also called for the implementation of what he described as the 2025 Federal Government-ASUU agreement.
The governorship hopeful said his administration, if elected in 2027, would introduce what he called the Five-Point ABG Education Alternative.
The plan, according to him, would focus on cash-backed education budgeting, dedicated funding for infrastructure and research, permanent dialogue with ASUU, reduction of government travel and luxury expenditure, and a public performance dashboard to track education spending.
“We will enforce cash-backed budgeting so that allocations are matched by immediate cash releases rather than paper promises,” he said.
Bawa added that his administration would “slash wasteful administrative travel and luxury spending to redirect billions into classrooms.”
He argued that Kaduna’s reputation as the “Centre of Learning” could not be sustained without substantial investment in schools and tertiary institutions.
“Kaduna claims to be the Centre of Learning, but that title is being reduced to an empty slogan while our universities fall apart and our youth are left stranded,” he said.
He urged the Sani administration to end what he described as its “propaganda campaign” against critics and concentrate on resolving the KASU crisis.
“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,” Bawa said.
