… Community Lacks Schools As Over 500 Abandon Learning In Lapai
…Expenditure Higher Than Healthcare, Water Supply
A review of the Niger State 2025 audited financial statement by THE WHISTLER newspaper has shown that it spent N8.8bn on 82 Changan vehicles for the fiscal year. This development comes even as only N5.8 billion was approved for the purpose of the purchase. Available records show that the state government spent a sum of N3 billion outside the approved amount for the purchase of the vehicles.
The breakdown shows that forty Maxus Mikano vehicles and 42 numbers Changan Mikano2019 model were bought with the amount. The average amount spent on each vehicle stood at N108 million, according to an analysis by THE WHISTLER newspaper.
In the same 2025, the state generated N36.2 billion tax revenue, analysis show that 24.3% of the taxes collected from residents and businesses in the state was spent on the vehicles. Thiswould be arrived at if N8.8 billion is factored as a percentage of the N36.2 billion generated as tax revenue in the 2025 fiscal year.
The Niger government also spent more money on purchase of these vehicles than critical sectors including basic education.
Data provided in the state’s 2025 full year statement shows that the State Universal Basic Education Board recorded only N1.9 billion on its capital expenditure for the 2025 fiscal year. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) multi-dimensional poverty index data reviewed by this newspaper shows that 43% of school aged children in Niger state are deprived of access to education, a development that may suggest the need for more funding for the sector to meet critical infrastructural demands. Another 68% of the children aged ten years are said to have failed to complete six years of schooling, according to the NBS data.
In one instance, a civil society organisation (CSO), MonITNG, drew the attention of the Niger State Government to Mawagi Primary School in the Lapai Local Government Area of the state, which it noted lay in ruins, forcing 512 pupils to abandon learning.
According to the CSO, the primary school is the only citadel of learning in the community, but its classrooms have become unsafe for children to learn in.
“As a result of this terrible state, over 512 pupils have stopped going to school. There are simply no classrooms for them to learn in.”
Further review shows that the Ministry of Primary Healthcare spent only N6.9 billion on its capital expenditure in the 2025 fiscal year, an amount that is lower than the N8.8 billion it spent on purchase of Changan vehicles.
Only N5.4 billion was spent on the Niger State Rural Water and Sanitation Agency capital expenditure in the 2025 full year, a figure which is less than the expenditure on luxury vehicles by N3.4 billion. Already, the NBS multi-dimensional poverty index data paints a gloomy situation, 71% of households in the state are said to lack access to sanitary facilities and another 50% lack access to clean drinking water.
A report recently revealed how the state residents rely on muddy water taken by cows due to absence of clean water.
There have been concerns over the financial prudence of states especially as Nigerian states continue to lament poor revenue, blaming these for some level of underdevelopment.
