Govs budget N525bn for security as killings spread

States across Nigeria earmarked a combined N525.23bn for security votes and related operations between 2023 and 2025, according to an analysis of figures extracted from their approved budget documents.

The states’ budgets are contained in Open States, a BudgIT-backed website that serves as a repository of government budget data.

The massive vote, intended to bolster security nationwide, raises critical concerns about the efficacy of these measures, as citizens remain increasingly vulnerable to the tide of violence.

Although the responsibility for ensuring the safety of lives and property lies with the Federal Government, the increasing wave of kidnapping, robbery, and other forms of violence has compelled many state governors to set up their own internal security strategies to combat the menace.

However, these efforts have not yielded the desired results as criminals continue to operate with impunity, terrorising the citizens.

The analysis is based on the budgets of 32 state governors, as Gombe, Kebbi, Niger and Yobe did not clearly disclose their allocations for security vote.

SOCIETY WATCH also observed that Ekiti did not clearly disclose this allocation in its 2025 approved budgets, which means the total figure should be higher than N525.23bn over the three years analysed.

Further analysis shows that states approved N150.47bn for security votes in 2023, rising to N164.07bn in 2024, before sharply increasing to N210.68bn in 2025.

The year-on-year growth shows that states added about N13.60bn to their security vote budgets in 2024, a rise of roughly 9.04 per cent over 2023, and then increased spending by a much larger N46.61bn in 2025, representing a jump of about 28.4 per cent over the 2024 level.

Compared with 2023, the amount budgeted in 2025 was higher by more than N60bn (about 40.01 per cent increase), highlighting how security vote allocations expanded rapidly within just three fiscal years.

The aggregate figures are driven by a handful of states with particularly large security vote provisions.

Borno State recorded the highest total over the three years at N57.40bn, reflecting the continuing cost of counterinsurgency and security operations in the North East.

Anambra State followed with N42.57bn, boosted by a sharp rise from N184.90m in 2023 to N17.28bn in 2024 and N25.10bn in 2025.

Delta State ranked next with N38.44bn, while Benue State posted N36.87bn over the period, with its allocation rising each year from N9.27bn in 2023 to N12bn in 2024 and N15.60bn in 2025.