Senator Anthony Ani, APC, Ebonyi South, has posited that the Senate Ad-hoc Committee on Safe Schools Initiative was not set up to witch-hunt anyone, but to ensure that abuses in the programme are corrected and its original objectives achieved.

Ani stated this during an interactive session of the Senate Committee to investigate the Safe Schools Initiative Program with the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, at the National Assembly complex, Abuja.

“Anybody who occupies the position of being a minister, especially the Minister of Education, is sitting on a very big seat. I say this because education, we know, is central to our development. Take education away, every other thing falls apart,” Ani said.

The lawmaker noted that parliament had a duty to act after discovering lapses in the implementation of the initiative.

“My colleagues have hit the nail on the head, and my oath is to concur. We are just doing what we are supposed to do as parliamentarians. It was discovered at a point that what was meant to be a good approach to save our schools initiative, some persons at some point in time abused the structure, the system, the processes,” he said.

“And being responsible persons, as parliamentarians, in our considered opinion, we set up this committee, not to witch-hunt anybody, but to see that the core objective, what was at the back of government in coming up with this initiative, is done accordingly.”

Ani stressed that the probe must cover past and present administrations because “government is a continuum.”

“I appreciate the coming of the minister, and like my chairman said, government is a continuum. What others did, which was not to his knowledge, he has now inherited it. We cannot say because he was not there, we leave this to go into the cooler,” he said.

“We have to do this so that others who are coming after him, and subsequent persons who may occupy similar positions, will take responsibility for their actions. So we are doing what we are supposed to do.”

In his remarks, Dr. Alausa had thanked the Committee and introduced senior officials, including the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education, Mr. Abel Olumuyiwa Enitan, representatives of the Ministry of Finance, and directors in charge of Safe Schools Financing and School Safety.

The minister said discussions on school security must be handled with caution due to ongoing threats.

“The issues surrounding Safe Schools financing are highly sensitive. We have terrorists, bandits and other criminal elements who deliberately target vulnerable members of our society. We must therefore avoid discussing operational security matters in public,” Alausa said.

He reaffirmed President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to protecting schools, describing education as central to the Renewed Hope Agenda.

“The President has made it clear that the security of our children, teachers and schools is non-negotiable. Security of lives, security of property and the protection of our national sovereignty remain top priorities of this administration,” he said.

“The President believes that education is not just part of the development agenda; it is at the very centre of national development. As we move towards building a knowledge-based economy, education remains the foundation.”

On funding, Alausa explained that the Safe Schools financing arrangement was previously domiciled in the Federal Ministry of Finance, and that most of the disbursements under scrutiny occurred before he assumed office.

“The reason we are here today is to respond to questions regarding how donor funds, foreign grants and Federal Government appropriations for the Safe Schools Initiative were utilised. Most of those disbursements took place long before I became Minister of Education,” he said.

“Nearly all the major disbursements under investigation occurred between five and seven years ago. Since I assumed office, the only significant disbursements have been targeted interventions to security agencies, including the Nigeria Police Force and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps. Those payments were administered through the Federal Ministry of Finance.”

The minister said the ministry had restructured the initiative by creating a full-fledged Safe Schools Department to replace the former small unit.

“We have now established a full-fledged Safe Schools Department within the Federal Ministry of Education. Previously, there was only a small unit, but we felt that was inadequate considering the importance of school safety,” he said.

“Although these transactions predated my appointment, government is a continuum. We have a responsibility to account to Nigerians for how public resources were managed.”

The Committee is probing the administration of funds allocated to the Safe Schools Initiative, including foreign grants, donor contributions and budgetary appropriations.

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