By Ebute Mathew, Kaduna
The 2027 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Kaduna State, Hon. Usman Shehu Bawa (ABG), has accused Governor Uba Sani’s administration of prioritising overseas travels, publicity and other government expenses at the expense of funding tertiary education.
Bawa made the allegation in a statement 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 described the crisis as no longer a mere industrial dispute, but an “urgent and alarming indictment” of the state of education and governance in Kaduna State.
According to him, the prolonged dispute is taking a heavy toll on students, parents and lecturers, with students facing disruptions to their academic programmes while parents incur additional expenses on accommodation and feeding.
“Every single day this crisis persists, real lives are being shattered across our state,” Bawa said.
The PDP candidate also expressed concern over the alleged exodus of experienced lecturers from KASU, saying poor working conditions and unresolved grievances could undermine the quality of education in the institution.
He said the situation risked depriving Kaduna of the professionals needed to train doctors, engineers, lawyers, teachers and other specialists who would contribute to the state’s development.
Bawa further questioned the state government’s claim of commitment to education, arguing that budgetary allocations on paper were meaningless if the funds were not released and utilised.
He cited Kaduna State budget implementation reports for 2023, 2024 and 2025, which, according to him, showed a decline in the proportion of the state’s final budget allocated to education.
He said education accounted for 27.6 per cent of the final budget in 2023, declining to 19.6 per cent in 2024 and 16.9 per cent in 2025.
For 2026, Bawa claimed that the education sector allocation was reduced from N243.9 billion to N219.2 billion during the year, 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.
Bawa alleged that KASU had been particularly affected by poor capital releases, claiming that only about N439.7 million, representing 2.8 per cent, was released out of approximately N15.2 billion in combined final capital allocations to the university in 2024 and 2025.
“You cannot maintain a functioning institution, let alone build a modern university, on empty promises and non-existent funding,” he said.
The opposition politician also questioned the state government’s expenditure on international transport and travels, claiming that about N13.2 billion was spent on such items between 2024 and the first half of 2026.
According to the figures he cited, the state spent N2.7 billion in 2024, N8.3 billion in 2025 and N2.2 billion by June 2026.
He contrasted the alleged expenditure with the N800 million in earned academic allowances he said was owed to university workers.
Bawa also alleged that substantial amounts were spent on Government House maintenance, publicity and advertisements, entertainment and hospitality.
He claimed that 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 government to immediately resume negotiations with ASUU-KASU and address the issues responsible for the prolonged industrial crisis.
He also called for the implementation of what he described as the 2025 Federal Government-ASUU agreement.
The PDP candidate said that if elected governor in 2027, his administration would introduce a five-point education programme, which he called the ABG Education Alternative.
The programme, he said, 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 for tracking education spending.
“We will enforce cash-backed budgeting so that allocations are matched by immediate cash releases rather than paper promises,” Bawa said.
He added that his administration would cut what he described as wasteful administrative travels and luxury spending and redirect the funds to classrooms and other educational needs.
Bawa said Kaduna could not continue to project itself as the “Centre of Learning” without sustained investment in its 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 Uba Sani administration to stop what he called a “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.
The statement included tables and graphical representations which Bawa said were drawn from Kaduna State Government budget implementation reports for 2023, 2024, 2025 and the second quarter of 2026.