Politics
Tracka flags alleged ₦235.4m payment for non-existent school in
TRACKA, a civic accountability platform of BudgIT, has questioned the disbursement of ₦235.4 million for the construction of classroom blocks in a secondary school it said does not exist in Sumaila Local Government Area of Kano State.
The organisation, in a X post on Wednesday, August 5, said the payment was captured in the Kano State Fourth Quarter 2025 Budget Implementation Report (BIR) for the construction of two four-classroom blocks with an office and store at Government Girls Senior Secondary School (GGSSS), permanent site, Massu.
However, following a field visit to Massu community in June 2026, Tracka said it neither found the project nor any school bearing that name.
According to the organisation, residents told its team that no school known as Government Girls Senior Secondary School (GGSSS), Permanent Site, Massu exists in the community.
Tracka added that it extended its search to other villages within Massu Ward but could not find any school with the name listed in the budget document.
“We visited Massu community in June 2026, and not only did we not find this project, residents also said there’s no school called GGSSS in Massu community. We also visited other villages in Massu ward but there’s no school called GGSSS in the entire Massu,” the organisation said in the post.
Tracka raised questions over why the funds were reportedly disbursed for a school that does not exist.
It also queried whether the project was intended for a new school and, if so, why construction had not commenced despite the reported release of funds.
Tracka called on the Kano State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) to provide details of how the money allocated to the project was spent.
“We implore the Kano State SUBEB to provide the public with details of how funds disbursed to this project were spent,” the organisation said.
The ICIR could not independently verify Tracka’s claims at the time of filing this report.
Efforts to obtain a response from the Kano State Government were unsuccessful. The spokesperson for the Kano State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Danlami Jazuli, while speaking with The ICIR, said the project did not fall within the agency’s mandate, explaining that SUBEB is not responsible for senior secondary school projects.
He referred The ICIR to the Kano State Ministry of Education.
When contacted, the spokesperson for the Kano State Ministry of Educatio,n Musbahu Aminu, asked The ICIR to send the Tracka post via WhatsApp.
This was done, and he acknowledged receipt of the message, promising to respond after making enquiries. However, he had yet to provide a response as of the time of publishing this report.
The ICIR reports that the allegation adds to growing concerns over accountability in the execution of public-funded projects, where civic and budget-tracking organisations have increasingly uncovered abandoned, poorly executed or allegedly non-existent projects despite records showing that funds had been released.
Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M
