By Abdullahi Mukhtar Algasgaini
The National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies (NBAIS) has come under scrutiny after allocating N18.049 billion of its N26.47 billion 2026 budget to staff salaries and allowances, representing 68 per cent of its total budget.
The agency, responsible for standardising and certifying Arabic and Islamic education across Nigeria, plans to spend N15.414 billion on salaries and N2.636 billion on allowances and social contributions for its workforce, according to budget documents.
While N146.6 million is earmarked for allowances, N2.489 billion has been allocated for social contributions, including N770.15 million for the National Health Insurance Scheme and N1.540 billion for staff pensions.
The remaining 32 per cent of the budget covers N318 million for overhead costs and N8.104 billion for capital expenditure.
The board has also set aside over N2.5 billion for projects including road construction, solar streetlights, food distribution, and social media training across Kano, Katsina, Kogi, and Zamfara States.
Notable allocations include N210 million for road construction in Kano Central Senatorial District, N175 million each for solar street lights in three Kano LGAs, and N28 million for rice distribution in Zamfara State.
A combined allocation exceeding N1.5 billion has been made for solar street light installations across multiple Kano LGAs, with amounts ranging from N140 million to N175 million per local government area.
Dr Umar Yakubu, Executive Director of the Centre for Fiscal Transparency and Public Integrity, called for the board’s scrapping, describing it as a duplication of existing agencies.
“First of all, we create agencies we don’t need. How can you create a whole agency just to conduct exams when you can easily give that role to WAEC, JAMB or other bodies?” he asked.
Yakubu alleged that “90% of the staff don’t have work to do,” adding that the EFCC has been investigating corruption allegations at the agency for years.
Public analyst Lasisi Olagunju highlighted the disparity in spending, noting that NBAIS’s personnel expenses exceed the entire personnel budget of NECO (N15.53 billion), NUC (N4.216 billion), NBTE (N1.843 billion), and NCCE (N1.306 billion).
“How many workers does the National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies have in its employment to justify a personnel bill of more than N18 billion?” Olagunju queried.
Sources within the agency, speaking on condition of anonymity, revealed that the board has approximately 6,000 staff members. Some employees admitted to having little to no work, with one headquarters staff member stating: “I come to work twice a week because there is nothing for me to do.”
NBAIS was recognised as a national examination and regulatory body in 2011 following approval by the National Council on Education, covering over 1,600 public and private schools and more than 5,000 Tsangaya schools.
The agency’s Head of Information, Abdul Salam Ramalan, promised to respond to inquiries after consulting with his principal but had not done so at the time of filing this report.