President Muhammadu Buhari has said he has spent N1.3trn to build critical educational facilities in the first term of his government.
The president disclosed this on Thursday at the inauguration of the newly completed Post-Graduate Centre of Excellence at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, constructed and donated to the school by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The ABU facility is one of the nine that are being provided by the CBN in some selected universities in all the geopolitical zones. ABU and the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) have been completed and inaugurated by the president.
The president said the N1.3trn budgetary spend excludes overhead costs.
“We are committed to funding our critical institutions, even in the face of limited resources. In line with this, in the past four years, we have budgeted N1.3trn towards the development of our education sector. This amount exclude over head costs, ” the president said.
President Buhari said the construction of the project was a testimony to his administration’s effort at supporting qualitative learning from the primary through to the tertiary level.
The President also said his administration, in its second term, will continue to accord education priority by ensuring adequate funding for the sector to make it affordable, qualitative and competitive with what was obtainable in more developed countries.
Speaking at the sidelines during the event, the CBN Governor Mr. Gabriel Emefiele said each of the post graduate centre of excellence will cost about N7bn.
“Each of the centres we did in Enugu and Ibadan cost us nothing less than N7 billion. If you look at these centres under a different kind of environment, you will know that they will cost over N10 billion. And I am sure you know what I am talking about” he noted.