The Senate has summoned the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, to appear next Tuesday as lawmakers intensify their investigation into the collapse of the $30 million Safe School Initiative.
According to Mediaplusng.com, the summons follows the adoption of a new work plan by the Senate Ad-hoc Committee on Safe School Initiative, chaired by Senator Orji Uzor Kalu. The committee also lists several key stakeholders for questioning, including the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa; the Chief of Defence Staff; the Commandant-General of the NSCDC, Dr. Ahmed Abubakar Audi; and representatives of school proprietors.
At the inaugural briefing, Senator Kalu vows that the Senate will uncover all issues surrounding the failed programme and ensure full accountability. He notes that more than 1,680 schoolchildren have been kidnapped and at least 180 educational facilities attacked since 2014, stressing that the situation is no longer acceptable. Mediaplusng.com reports that the committee is determined to trace every naira and every dollar allocated to the initiative, including the $30 million mobilised between 2014 and 2021 and the recent ₦144 billion released by the Federal Government.
Kalu explains that the investigation is not aimed at witch-hunting, but at strengthening transparency and improving school safety nationwide. He says the probe will review fund utilisation, deployment of security personnel, efficiency of early warning systems, infrastructure upgrades, and partnerships with donors and private-sector contributors.
The renewed investigation comes after nationwide outrage over the recent abduction of 25 female students from Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, in Kebbi State, and more than 200 students from St. Mary Catholic School in Niger State.
