NBAIS Budgets ₦18bn For Personnel

The National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies (NBAIS) has allocated ₦18.05 billion for personnel costs in its 2026 budget, representing about 68 per cent of its total ₦26.47 billion appropriation.

An analysis of the agency’s budget shows that ₦15.41 billion was earmarked for salaries, while ₦2.64 billion was set aside for allowances and statutory social contributions.

Of the social contributions, ₦770.15 million was allocated to the National Health Insurance Scheme, ₦1.54 billion for employer pension contributions and ₦178.71 million for the Employees’ Compensation Scheme.

The remaining budget comprises ₦318.02 million for overhead costs and ₦8.1 billion for capital expenditure.

The board also earmarked more than ₦2.5 billion for projects including road construction, solar-powered streetlights, empowerment programmes, food distribution and youth training across Kano, Katsina, Kogi and Zamfara states.

Among the projects is ₦210 million for the construction of the Dantata Road–Saint Louis Road in Kano Central Senatorial District and ₦70 million for a 1.5-kilometre road in Ugwolawo, Ofu Local Government Area of Kogi State.

Another ₦84 million was allocated for the completion of factories in Kogi East Senatorial District, while ₦70 million was approved for the completion of a Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps outpost in Sharada, Kano.

In Zamfara State, the board budgeted ₦28 million for the distribution of parboiled rice to beneficiaries in Anka/Talata Mafara Federal Constituency, while ₦70 million was earmarked for empowerment materials and cash grants in Danbatta/Makoda Federal Constituency of Kano State.

The largest allocation among the constituency projects is for solar-powered streetlights across several local government areas in Kano Central Senatorial District, with more than ₦1.5 billion budgeted for installations in Fagge, Dala, Nasarawa, Tarauni, Kano Municipal, Gwale, Gezawa, Madobi, Warawa and Munjibir LGAs.

The board also approved ₦75.6 million for youth training on social and electronic media and ₦49 million for entrepreneurship training on converting plastic waste into interlocking paving stones in Dutsin-Ma/Kurfi Federal Constituency of Katsina State.

Efforts to obtain the board’s official response were unsuccessful. Its Head of Information, Abdul Salam Ramalan, later said a response would be provided after consultations with the agency’s leadership, but none had been received as of the time of filing this report.

A source within the board, who requested anonymity, said many employees were engaged in supervising the June–July external examinations nationwide, while another source disclosed that the agency has about 6,000 staff members.

The budget has, however, drawn criticism from governance experts.

Executive Director of the Centre for Fiscal Transparency and Public Integrity, Umar Yakubu, questioned the continued existence of the board, arguing that its functions could be absorbed by existing examination bodies such as the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board and the West African Examinations Council.

He also alleged that the agency was overstaffed and that many employees had little or no defined responsibilities.

Public affairs analyst Lasisi Olagunju also criticised the personnel allocation, noting that NBAIS’s ₦18.05 billion personnel budget exceeds those of several major education agencies, including the National Examinations Council, the National Universities Commission, the National Board for Technical Education and the National Commission for Colleges of Education.

He questioned the size of the agency’s workforce and whether its staffing level justifies such a large personnel bill.

NBAIS has faced similar scrutiny in the past over its workforce. Following its recognition by the National Council on Education in 2011, the board reportedly recruited more than 5,000 employees.

Some staff members have previously alleged that many workers were not assigned clear responsibilities, with some claiming they reported to work only occasionally because they had no defined duties.