Despite increased allocation of funds to the security sector in the last 12 years amounting to N11 trillion, according to data from BudgIT, a civic tech organisation, insecurity has worsened in the country.
According to BudgIT, allocation to the security sector witnessed a steady increase from 2011 to 2022, but with very little visibility on the level of disbursement and utilisation of the appropriated funds. This includes allocations to defence, the police force, service wide votes, and ministry of interior.
The sector saw the highest allocation in 2022 with a total of N2.49 trillion, up from N1.86 trillion in 2021. In 2011, the sector received N920.87 billion. In the same vein, allocations to defence peaked in 2022 with a total budget of N1.19 trillion, while service wide votes got N220 billion, according to BudgIT
Allocations to the ministry of interior in 2022 stood at N287 billion, while allocations to the Police and the Office of the National Security Adviser stood at N783 billion and N212 billion, respectively.
The N2.49 trillion to security and defence is more than the entire allocations to education and health.
Security experts have decried the lack of oversight on the security sector. Sadeeq Shehu, a retired group captain, who is a defence and security consultant, blamed the “worsening security ” situation on poor utilisation of defence budget in addition to lack of accountability and oversight.
“It is not the amount or size of budget that matters, but how the money is spent. A lot of money is being released, but used for what? This is where I see a lacuna; there is abject lack of oversight from the president and the minister of defence,” he said at the recent launch of Nigeria Security Report.
Read also: Insecurity cripples nightlife, businesses in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city
According to him, about 70 percent of the budget is disbursed for extraneous projects that have nothing to do with operations.
A report, titled ‘Nigeria Security Situation’, by Beacon Consulting, a security risk management and intelligence consulting company, shows that there were 2357 cases of violent attacks in the country from January to June 2022, representing a 47.5 percent increase from the 1235 attacks witnessed in the same period last year.
The report also shows that the number of fatalities increased by 35.9 percent in the first half of 2022 compared to the 4,927 fatalities recorded in the first half of 2021. It further revealed that more citizens were kidnapped in 2022 compared to 2021. At least 3357 persons were abducted compared to 2540 persons abducted within the same period last year, representing a 24.3 percent increase.
Timeline of security spend
In 2011, a total of N920.87 billion was allocated to the sector, with N348.30 billion to defence and N309.17 billion to the police. The total security allocation for 2012 stood at N921.92 billion, with N326.35 billion to defence and N313.96 billion to police.
The budget increased further in 2013 to N957.70 billion. While N364.41 billion was earmarked for defence, the police sector got N323.04 billion.
The security budget dropped a little in 2014 to N930.22 billion. Defence was allocated N349.70 billion and police N310.82 billion. In 2015, N948.01 billion was allocated to the sector, with N375.49 billion to defence and N327.56 billion to the police.
In 2016, the budget grew to N1.04 trillion. This was the first budget under President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration. A breakdown of the budget shows that a total of N443.07 billion was allocated to defence and N312.56 billion to the police force.
The budget for the security sector grew further in 2017 to N1.13 trillion; N469.83 was budgeted for defence and N319.01 billion for police.
In 2018, N1.28 trillion was allocated to security. The total budget for defence was N576.39 trillion, while police was allocated N335.40 billion. In the same year, President Buhari authorised the withdrawal of $1 billion from the excess crude oil account, and $496 million was used to order for 12 Tucano fighter jets.
In 2019, the security sector was allocated N1.33 trillion. Of the total budget, the federal government allocated N589.95 billion for defence and N371.08 for police.
The budget for the sector increased to N1.69 trillion in 2020. Of the total allocation, the defence budget rose to N899.91 billion and the police force got N410.48 billion.
In 2021, N1.86 trillion was allocated to the sector, out of which N964.05 was allocated to defence and N455.13 billion to the police force. The sector also got a supplementary budget of N802 billion.
In the same year, the implementation of the Police Trust Fund commenced, with a total of N11 billion approved for the fund in March and another N74 billion was approved in June.
In 2022, the budget almost doubled in 2022 with N2.49 trillion allocated to the sector. The allocation to defence also rose to N1.19 trillion and the police sector got N783.85 billion.
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