…Jigawa Tops 34-State Ranking With 29.9%, Ekiti, Nasarawa Follow
…Akwa Ibom Records Lowest Commitment At 0.6%, Imo Gets 4.2%
…Ogun Spends N36.58bn In H1 2026, Ranks 13th
Daud Olatunji
A fresh fiscal performance report by BudgIT has exposed significant disparities in education spending among Nigerian states, with Lagos, despite recording the country’s second-highest actual expenditure on education in absolute terms, allocating just 5.8 per cent of its total expenditure to the sector in the first half of 2026.
The findings also showed that Akwa Ibom devoted a paltry 0.6 per cent of its total expenditure to education, making it the lowest-performing state among the 34 states assessed, while Imo and Lagos recorded 4.2 and 5.8 per cent respectively.
In contrast, Jigawa emerged as the state with the highest proportion of expenditure devoted to education, committing 29.9 per cent of its actual expenditure to the sector, followed by Ekiti with 25.1 per cent and Nasarawa with 24.9 per cent.
The findings were contained in BudgIT’s H1 2026 Education Expenditure Performance by State, published on October 21, 2026, as part of its Subnational Budget Implementation Review.
According to the report, the 34 states collectively spent N1.049tn on education between January and June 2026, although the level of commitment varied considerably across the states.
BudgIT observed that education accounted for a sizeable share of actual expenditure in several states, but the figures also revealed substantial differences in the priority governments attached to the sector.
The report stated, “Combined, 34 states spent N1.049tn on education by H1, 2026, with education accounting for a sizeable share of actual expenditure in several states.”
A breakdown of the figures showed that Kano recorded the highest actual education expenditure, spending N99.23bn, representing 24.7 per cent of its total expenditure.
Lagos followed with N88.96bn, but the amount represented only 5.8 per cent of its total actual expenditure of N1.540tn, raising questions about the relationship between the state’s huge spending capacity and its relative fiscal commitment to education.
Delta ranked third in absolute education expenditure with N65.50bn, representing 13.4 per cent of its total expenditure of N487.56bn.
Jigawa, however, recorded the highest education spending proportion despite having a considerably smaller overall expenditure than Lagos, Kano and Delta.
The state spent N54.13bn on education out of its N180.90bn total expenditure, translating to 29.9 per cent.
Ekiti committed N39.53bn out of N157.64bn to education, representing 25.1 per cent, while Nasarawa spent N26.61bn from its N106.99bn expenditure, accounting for 24.9 per cent.
The figures suggest that the states with the highest overall spending are not necessarily those devoting the largest proportion of their financial resources to education.
Ogun Spends N36.58bn, Ranks 13th
In Ogun State, the report showed that the government spent N36.58bn on education during the first half of 2026, representing 16.2 per cent of its total actual expenditure of N226.37bn.
