The Senate has broadened its investigation into the Safe Schools Initiative, extending the mandate of its ad hoc committee by three weeks and adding several key government agencies to the ongoing probe.
The expanded inquiry will now include the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, the Universal Basic Education Commission, the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, and the National Social Investment Programme Agency.
Lawmakers said the move is aimed at carrying out a wider review of how funds meant for education, student welfare and school safety programmes have been managed across the country.
The decision followed a motion presented by the chairman of the Senate Ad hoc Committee on the Safe Schools Initiative, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, who said the committee’s preliminary findings showed that the agencies play significant roles in programmes linked to school security and educational support.
He explained that limiting the investigation to the Safe Schools Initiative would prevent the Senate from fully assessing the issues surrounding student safety and education interventions.
“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 stated.
According to him, expanding the committee’s responsibilities will enable lawmakers to produce a more comprehensive report that promotes accountability and improves the management of intervention funds.
The committee will now examine how funds have been allocated and utilised, assess operational challenges within the affected agencies and review accountability mechanisms. It will also evaluate school feeding initiatives, emergency support for displaced students and rehabilitation programmes managed by humanitarian agencies.
In addition, the panel will inspect TETFund-funded security and infrastructure projects in tertiary institutions, assess NELFUND’s education loan operations and review UBEC’s role in improving basic education.
Seeking more time for the assignment, Kalu said the committee still had major aspects of the investigation to complete.
“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 approved the request, giving the committee an additional three weeks to complete its work.
The investigation was launched in December 2025 amid growing concerns over continued attacks on schools despite government spending on security programmes.
The probe gained further attention after the kidnapping of 25 female students from Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga, Kebbi State, where the school’s vice principal was also killed during the attack.
As part of its work, the committee has been reviewing the disbursement of funds under the Safe Schools Initiative and examining whether the programme has delivered the expected improvements in the safety and welfare of students across Nigeria.
