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Education's share of the federal budget fell from 7.9 percent in 2016 to 3.7 percent in 2026

The Federal Ministry of Education and the Universal Basic Education transfer as a share of each year's Appropriation Act, from Budget Office of the Federation documents.

The Public Interest ·

In the 2016 Appropriation Act, the Federal Ministry of Education and the statutory transfer to the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) together received ₦480.28 billion, or 7.92 percent of total federal spending. In the 2026 Act they received ₦2.56 trillion, or 3.74 percent. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) benchmark is 15 to 20 percent of public expenditure.

Education's share of the federal budget, by yearFederal Ministry of Education and its agencies plus the UBEC statutory transfer, percent of total expenditure in the Appropriation Act
0%3%5%8%10%2016, Share of budget: 7.9%7.9%20162017, Share of budget: 7.4%7.4%20172018, Share of budget: 7.1%7.1%20182019, Share of budget: 7.1%7.1%20192020, Share of budget: 6.5%6.5%20202022, Share of budget: 5.1%5.1%20222023, Share of budget: 4.9%4.9%20232026, Share of budget: 3.7%3.7%2026 0%3%5%8%10%2016, Share of budget: 7.9%8%20162017, Share of budget: 7.4%7%20172018, Share of budget: 7.1%7%20182019, Share of budget: 7.1%7%20192020, Share of budget: 6.5%6%20202022, Share of budget: 5.1%5%20222023, Share of budget: 4.9%5%20232026, Share of budget: 3.7%4%2026

Source: Budget Office of the Federation, Appropriation Acts and Bills as passed, 2016 to 2026 (2023 from the Act's Federal Ministry of Education schedule). The figure is the recurrent and capital allocation of the Federal Ministry of Education and all its agencies, plus the Universal Basic Education statutory transfer, divided by the aggregate expenditure in Section 1 of each Act. The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), which is financed from the education tax, and education items in service-wide votes are not included in any year. From 2023 the Acts assign loan-funded capital to ministries and it is included; before 2023 such loans were a single unallocated line and are not. The 2023 total is from the Act's schedule for the ministry, which carries the UBEC transfer as one of its lines, divided by ₦21.83 trillion. 2021, 2024 and 2025 are left out because the Act figures for those years could not be confirmed against the primary documents. Each Act is the main Act as first signed; supplementary, amended and re-enacted budgets are not included.

Source documents: Budget Office, 2016 Appropriation Act; Budget Office, 2017 Appropriation Act; Budget Office, 2018 Appropriation Act; Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC), copy of the signed 2018 Appropriation Act; Budget Office, 2019 Appropriation Bill as passed; Budget Office, 2020 Appropriation Bill as passed; Budget Office, 2022 Appropriation Bill as passed; Budget Office, 2023 Appropriation Act, Federal Ministry of Education; Budget Office, 2026 Appropriation Bill (final).

Show the figures
YearShare of budget
20167.92%
20177.40%
20187.14%
20197.12%
20206.48%
20225.05%
20234.93%
20263.74%
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The amount rose in naira in every year shown, from ₦480.28 billion in 2016 to ₦1.08 trillion in 2023 and ₦2.56 trillion in 2026. Total federal spending rose faster. In 2026 the Universal Basic Education transfer was ₦490.28 billion and the ministry and its agencies received ₦2.07 trillion, including ₦30.64 billion of loan-funded capital.

The shares here are of the federal budget only. The UNESCO benchmark refers to total public expenditure, which also includes the budgets of states and local governments.

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