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Members of a special team at the Education Department that had been investigating widespread abuses by for-profit colleges have been marginalized, reassigned or instructed to focus on other matters, according to current and former employees. The investigative team had been created in 2016 after the collapse of the for-profit Corinthian Colleges, which set off a wave of complaints from students about predatory activities at for-profit schools. The institutions had been accused of widespread fraud that involved misrepresenting enrolment benefits, job placement rates and program offerings, which could leave students with huge debts and no degrees.

National Accountability Bureau (NAB) officials have started collecting evidence pertaining to alleged corruption and financial mismanagement of at least Rs 4 billion in the Prime Minister’s Education Reform Programme. The former prime minister had given at least Rs 4 billion to improve the conditions of 423 federal public educational institutions that come under the purview of the Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) through the Prime Minister’s Education Reform Programme. Corruption and financial mismanagement has allegedly been done in funds allocated for paint jobs, furniture procurement, and construction and renovation projects.

Six senior government officials in the Ministry of Education have been relieved of their duties in relation to massive corruption, abuse of office, fictitious procurements and embezzlement of public resources spanning more than 20 years. The President has also directed that the Contracts Committee of the same ministry be "disbanded with immediate effect" in relation to the "mishandling of the process for procuring furniture for selected primary schools in Uganda under the Ministry of Education and Sports".

Tales of corruption in Nigeria are many in number. One example is the case of the clerk at the state examinations board who was called to account for the disappearance of $100,000 in exam fees. An analyst of the country says: "There's this perception among officials in Nigeria that national government is there to divide up the booty of oil wealth." That political culture then filters through to layers below, to the point where even local police or school teachers or receptionists at public hospitals may consider it their right to demand bribes. "It's about people monetizing their position in society so that even people with the lowest amount of authority will use that to extract a small amount."

A senior lawyer and human right activist has called for proper monitoring and utilization of the Universal Basic Education (UBE) Fund. The UBE fund is an annual grant by the federal government to help states upgrade their primary education facilities in order to provide a good education for children across the nation. In his statement, the activist warned that the fund may be diverted by politicians desperately looking for money to buy votes during the forthcoming general election in the country. He said the World Bank gave Nigeria a grant $611 million (N219 billion) for the UBE scheme.