Civic group Tracka raised questions after field inspections in Sumaila LGA revealed no physical trace of the ₦235.4 million GGSSS Massu classroom project. Investigation finds ₦235.4m paid for Kano school missing from state directory.
Phantom School in Kano: ₦235m Wasted?
₦235.4 million was paid to construct classrooms in a school that does not exist, according to an investigation by civic accountability platform Tracka and the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ). The funds were disbursed for the "Construction of 2No. 4-Classroom Story Block with Office and Store at GGSSS, Permanent Site, Massu" in Sumaila Local Government Area, Kano State.
According to Kano State's Fourth Quarter 2025 Budget Implementation Report, the government disbursed ₦235.4 million for the project. Tracka, a public accountability initiative by BudgIT, disclosed on its X page that its team visited the Massu community in June 2026 to verify the project.
Residents told Tracka's team they had never heard of any school called Government Girls Senior Secondary School (GGSSS), Permanent Site, Massu. Tracka's team also visited other villages across Massu Ward but still found no school bearing that name.
The group has now asked the Kano State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) to explain why ₦235.4 million was disbursed for a school that residents say does not exist. It also questioned whether the project was intended for a new school, asking why construction had not started despite the reported disbursement of funds.
Budget Documents Confirm Disbursement
FIJ independently reviewed Kano State's Q4 2025 Budget Implementation Report and confirmed that the project is listed among those for which payments had already been made. The report specifically records the release of ₦235.4 million for the construction of two four-classroom storey blocks, including offices and a store, at GGSSS, Permanent Site, Massu.
However, FIJ's findings went beyond the budget document. FIJ searched Kano State Government's official online directory of secondary schools but found no record of any school named Government Girls Senior Secondary School (GGSSS), Permanent Site, Massu.
No Record of the School
Instead, the state's education portal lists several girls' secondary schools within the Sumaila Local Government Area, including Government Secondary School (GSS) Massu, Government Girls Arabic Secondary School (GGASS) Sumaila, GGSS Burum Burum and GGSS Sitti. However, it does not identify any school named Government Girls Senior Secondary School (GGSSS), Permanent Site, Massu.
FIJ further cited previous reports on Kano's school merger policy, which mention Government Secondary School (GSS) Sumaila among affected schools but make no reference to GGSSS, Permanent Site, Massu.
Questions Left Unanswered
Following its field visit, Tracka posed two key questions to the Kano State Government: why was ₦235.4 million disbursed for a school that residents say does not exist, and if the project was meant to establish a new school, why had construction not begun despite the reported release of funds?
The civic organisation urged Kano State SUBEB to publicly account for how the funds allocated to the project were spent. As of the time Tracka published its findings, and FIJ's report was released, there had been no publicly available response from the Kano State Government or Kano SUBEB addressing the questions raised.
Source: Pulse.ng
