PDP Governorship Candidate Slams Kaduna Govt Over Budget Cuts, ASUU Strike, Demands Cash-Backed Funding.
The PDP Governorship Candidate for Kaduna State in 2027, Hon. Usman Shehu Bawa, popularly known as ABG, has accused the administration of Governor Uba Sani of prioritizing "overseas trips and publicity" over tertiary education, as the crisis between the Kaduna State Government and ASUU, Kaduna State University Chapter, deepens.
In a press statement issued to newsmen on Monday, ABG said the protracted KASU crisis was "an urgent, alarming indictment" of the state’s direction, warning that government propaganda was starving the very institutions meant to produce the doctors, engineers and teachers needed to build Kaduna’s future.
"We Cannot Spend N13.2bn on Travels While Schools Collapse"
ABG cited official expenditure records showing that the state government spent approximately N13.2 billion on international transport and travels between 2024 and June 2026. The breakdown, according to him, includes N2.7 billion in 2024, N8.3 billion in 2025, and N2.2 billion in the first half of 2026.
He contrasted this with what he called the government’s refusal to settle N800 million in earned academic allowances owed to university staff.
"While our tertiary institutions bleed from neglect and lecturers fight for their basic survival, the state government is engaging in unconscionable, lavish spending elsewhere," ABG said. "When students are losing crucial years of their lives, we must confront the horrifying question of what this government truly values: lavish international trips and public relations, or the survival and future of our children."
He further alleged that the government spent N2.1 billion on publicity and advertisements in 2025 and another N694.6 million by mid-2026, totaling nearly N3 billion on "self-serving propaganda" in 18 months.
Budget Figures Show Decline, Says PDP Candidate
ABG presented budget performance data to back his claims. He noted that the education sector allocation dropped from 24.74% to 22.2% in 2026 after a mid-year slash from N243.9 billion to N219.2 billion.
A review of the last three years, he added, shows a steady decline: from 28% in 2023, to 19.6% in 2024, and 16.9% in 2025.
The situation at KASU is worse, he argued. Out of a combined final capital budget of about N15.2 billion for KASU in 2024 and 2025, only N439.7 million — 2.8% — was released. Capital budget execution stood at 0.9% in 2024 and 8% in 2025.
Similar underfunding was recorded at Kaduna State College of Education, Gidan Waya, and Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic, Zaria, where capital releases in some years were zero.
"Students and Parents Paying the Price"
According to ABG, the fallout is already visible. Students face indefinite delays in graduation, parents are drained by accommodation costs, and lecturers are leaving KASU due to poor conditions.
He also linked the crisis to broader education failure in the state, citing data that 74.3% of Primary 4 pupils and 63.3% of Primary 6 pupils cannot meet minimum proficiency in basic literacy.
The government, he said, has responded with "hostility" and "propaganda attacks" instead of dialogue, including attempts to ridicule interventions by opposition figures.
ABG Unveils 'Five-Point ABG Education Alternative
ABG said his administration would overhaul the sector through a "Five-Point ABG Education Alternative" that includes cash-backed budgeting, dedicated funding for KASU and other institutions, permanent dialogue with ASUU, cutting wasteful travel spending, and a public dashboard to track education spending.
He called on Governor Sani to immediately halt the "propaganda campaign," return to honest negotiations with ASUU-KASU, and implement the 2025 Federal Government-ASUU Agreement.
"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. "The true test of an education budget is not the grand figure announced during a press speech, but the actual lives changed when those funds reach the classroom."
The statement was accompanied by graphic representations of the budget data cited by the PDP candidate.
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