APC Highlights Tinubu’s Education Reforms Ahead of 2027 Poll

The APC Presidential Campaign Council says NELFUND has disbursed ₦372.62bn in student loans, while 156,446 trainees have benefited from the government’s vocational education programme

The All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council has highlighted the education reforms of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, citing ₦372.62bn in student loan disbursements and 156,446 beneficiaries of its Technical and Vocational Education and Training programme.

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The council’s spokesperson and Minister of Solid Minerals, Dele Alake, disclosed the figures in a statement on Wednesday, November 4, 2026, outlining what he described as progress in access to education, teachers’ welfare, vocational training and tertiary education.

The statement comes ahead of the January 16, 2027, presidential election, as the ruling party seeks to defend the administration’s record amid criticism from opposition parties over its policies and their impact on Nigerians.

Alake said the reforms were designed to address challenges across basic, secondary, technical and tertiary education, with particular attention to out-of-school children, girl-child education, digital learning and skills development.

According to him, the Federal Government allocated ₦3.52tn to education in the 2026 budget and secured $552m for the HOPE-EDU programme, which targets 29 million children, more than 500,000 teachers and 65,000 public schools.

He said the government’s interventions also included the Nigeria Education Sector Renewal Initiative, which focuses on six priority areas: technical and vocational education, science and medical sciences, out-of-school children, girl-child education, digitalisation and education quality assurance.

The campaign council said the Better Education Service Delivery for All programme had returned more than one million out-of-school children to classrooms, trained 1,400 Tsangaya teachers and established 200 bilingual centres across 17 northern states.

It also cited the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment programme, which it said had reached 7.19 million girls, including 3.7 million enrolled in secondary schools.

Alake added that more than 10,000 schools had received facility upgrades under various government interventions.

On curriculum development, he said the administration had introduced a revised national curriculum to reintroduce Nigerian History and strengthen Civic and Heritage Studies.

He also said the National Learning Assessment had been restored to monitor pupils’ academic performance and identify gaps requiring intervention.

The council further highlighted efforts to improve teachers’ professional development through the EduRevamp initiative.

According to Alake, 53,553 teachers had registered under the programme, while 51,794 participated in the first cohort of the Accelerated Teacher Professionalisation Pathway, a six-month scheme offering professional qualifications, certification and licensing.

Backed by ₦2bn, the programme is targeting 250,000 teachers by 2027, he said.

The statement also identified Inspire Live as part of the administration’s digital education interventions, providing online lessons for pupils from Primary One to Senior Secondary School Three, supported by certified teachers and artificial intelligence-assisted learning.

On vocational training, Alake said the TVET programme had attracted more than 2.8 million applications, with 156,446 verified trainees receiving free training, monthly stipends and start-up support.

He said more than ₦65.7bn had been disbursed to trainees, while another ₦30.2bn had gone to training centres.

The government had also rehabilitated 38 technical colleges and introduced free technical education covering tuition, boarding, textbooks and uniforms, he added.

The Federal Ministry of Education’s official TVET portal describes the initiative as a tuition-free vocational training scheme offering monthly stipends and start-up support to selected trainees. Its published figures also distinguish between applicants, matched trainees and those currently enrolled.

In medical and science education, the campaign council said the Federal Government was investing ₦110bn in the rehabilitation of 18 federal medical schools across the six geopolitical zones.

It also reported an increase in nursing enrolment from 81,480 in 2023 to 114,300 in 2025, alongside the approval of 20 science, technology, engineering and mathematics-focused tertiary institutions.

According to Alake, 12 engineering and technology faculties had also been earmarked for rehabilitation.

The council further presented the Nigerian Education Loan Fund as one of the administration’s major interventions in higher education.

It said NELFUND had processed 1,659,853 student loan applications and disbursed ₦372.62bn across 319 tertiary institutions.

The amount comprised ₦192.89bn paid directly to institutions for tuition and ₦179.73bn provided as upkeep allowances to students.

The figures are consistent with NELFUND’s reported disbursement position as of October 30, 2026. However, the number of processed applications should not automatically be interpreted as the number of unique students who received funding.

Alake also said the administration had resolved the longstanding dispute between the Academic Staff Union of Universities and the Federal Government, alongside implementing an agreement providing for a 40 per cent increase in academic staff remuneration and improved welfare benefits.

He added that the Tertiary Institutions Staff Support Fund had disbursed ₦28bn to 15,000 workers across 153 public institutions.

Under the scheme, eligible staff members can access loans of up to ₦10m for housing, healthcare, transportation and education, he said.

Other initiatives highlighted by the council included the National Laureate Prize, which provides ₦365m annually for research and innovation, and the Student Venture Capital Grant.

Alake said the latter had disbursed more than ₦2.5bn to 45 student entrepreneurs, with each beneficiary eligible for up to ₦50m in equity-free funding.

He also disclosed that entrepreneurship certification was ongoing in 14 federal universities, while the Diaspora BRIDGE initiative had registered 1,141 Nigerian professionals abroad and reached 16,675 students across 107 tertiary institutions.

The campaign council’s defence of the administration’s education record comes amid broader questions about funding, implementation and the quality of learning outcomes in Nigeria.

Although the 2026 budget allocation and reported programme disbursements provide an indication of government spending and activity, they do not, on their own, establish the extent to which the interventions have improved educational outcomes nationwide.

For instance, the ₦3.52tn education allocation is a budgetary provision, while actual improvements in access, learning quality and school infrastructure depend on implementation and measurable results.

The administration’s education policies are therefore likely to remain part of the debate as political parties prepare for the January 2027 presidential election.

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The Independent National Electoral Commission has fixed January 16, 2027, for the presidential and National Assembly elections, following a revision of its earlier timetable.