As governors across the country present their 2026 appropriation bills to state Houses of Assembly, an analysis by The PUNCH shows wide disparities in funding for the education sector, with Anambra, Enugu, Kano and Jigawa emerging as the leading states, while others trail far below recommended benchmarks.

So far, 34 governors have laid their 2026 budget proposals before lawmakers.

The analysis reveals that Anambra tops education funding nationwide with 46.9 per cent of N757bn allocated to education.

Enugu State follows, allocating N522bn out of its N1.62tn 2026 budget to the sector, representing 32.3 per cent.

Enugu has maintained this strong commitment, having consistently earmarked over 30 per cent of its total budget for education in both 2024 and 2025.

For 2026, the allocation is expected to fund infrastructure upgrades, teacher recruitment and flagship initiatives such as Smart Green Schools, including N30bn dedicated to school feeding programmes.

Kano State follows closely, with N405.3bn set aside for education out of a total budget of N1.368tn, amounting to 30 per cent.

The state government has described quality education as a strategic driver of development. Jigawa allocated N234.48bn to education, which represents 26 per cent of its N901.84bn budget. Governor Muhammad Badaru has said that “quality education is key to Jigawa’s future.”

Other states that made strong commitments to education and are close to or above international benchmarks include Kaduna, which allocated N246.25bn of its N985bn budget (25 per cent); Abia, with N203.2bn of N1.016tn (20 per cent); and Taraba, which set aside N131.6bn of its N650bn budget, representing about 20 per cent.

States with notable allocations also include Kogi (N145.26bn of N820.49bn, 18 per cent), Katsina (N156.3bn of N897bn, 17.4 per cent), Oyo (N155.21bn of N892bn, 17.4 per cent), Nasarawa (N92.91bn of N545.2bn, 17.05 per cent), Ogun (N275.4bn of N1.66tn, 16.6 per cent) and Kebbi, which earmarked about 16 per cent, amounting to N105bn of its N642.93bn budget.

In contrast, the analysis shows that Akwa Ibom and Imo lag significantly behind in education funding, allocating less than five per cent of their total budgets to the sector.

Akwa Ibom recorded the lowest allocation, earmarking N31.6bn out of a N1.39tn budget, representing 2.27 per cent. Imo followed with N60.623bn of its N1.43tn budget, amounting to 4.24 per cent.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation recommends that countries allocate four to six per cent of their Gross Domestic Product or between 15 and 20 per cent of total public expenditure to education.

Several states fell short of this benchmark, with allocations below 10 per cent. These include Adamawa, which earmarked N40bn out of N583bn (6.86 per cent); Bayelsa, N75.1bn of N1.01tn (7.43 per cent); Delta, N105.086bn of N1.72tn (6.11 per cent); Gombe, N49.482bn of N617.95bn (8.01 per cent); Lagos, N249bn of N4.237tn (5.87 per cent); Niger, N107.9bn of N1.31tn (8.24 per cent); and Zamfara, which allocated N65bn of N861bn, representing 7.55 per cent.

States that allocated around 15 per cent to education include Bauchi, with N131.71bn out of N878bn; Ondo, which earmarked N77.024bn of its N524bn budget; and Sokoto, which allocated N115.9bn out of N758.7bn.

In some states, education funding is subsumed under a broader social services heading, which also covers health, social welfare and protection, housing, and community services.

These states include Cross River, which allocated N163bn of its N961bn budget to social services; Edo, N148.9bn of N939bn; Plateau, N119bn of N914bn; Yobe, N200bn of N515bn; Kwara, N152.325bn of N644bn; and Ebonyi, N247.97bn of N884bn. In these cases, the precise amount dedicated specifically to education is not clearly stated.

Osun State approved a 2026 budget of N723.4bn, comprising recurrent revenue of N421.25bn and capital receipts of N286.01bn, while Ekiti State proposed a N415.37bn budget, with 53 per cent allocated to recurrent expenditure and 47 per cent to capital expenditure. However, some of these states are yet to provide detailed breakdowns showing exact allocations to the education sector. (The PUNCH)

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