Northern governors receive ₦56bn security votes in nine months
Story by Okafor Vivian
Fourteen states in Northern Nigeria received a combined N56 billion in security votes within the first nine months of 2025, even as insecurity across the region continues to escalate.
According to budget performance documents reviewed across the affected states, the allocations were released to support counter-insurgency operations, community policing, intelligence gathering and other security-related interventions.
The states that received the funds include Kebbi, Kwara, Taraba, Kaduna, Adamawa, Kogi, Jigawa, Borno, Gombe, Katsina, Zamfara, Yobe, Nasarawa and Benue.
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Borno State recorded the highest spending, having reportedly released N32 billion out of its approved ₦41.6 billion security-vote allocation. Yobe and Adamawa followed with releases of N5 billion and ₦4.5 billion, respectively.
Despite the huge expenditure, communities across the North continue to suffer repeated attacks, mass abductions, and deadly raids. Recent incidents include kidnappings of schoolchildren, worshippers, commuters and farmers, prompting widespread concern over the effectiveness of security-vote spending.
Civil society organisations have also criticised the disbursements, demanding transparency and accountability. The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) urged anti-graft agencies to probe how state governments utilise security votes, warning that continued opacity could undermine the Federal Government’s recently declared nationwide security emergency.
SERAP referenced earlier findings by Transparency International indicating that security-vote expenditures nationwide could reach ₦241.2 billion annually, with little public oversight or auditing.
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Critics argue that security votes remain prone to misuse, often shrouded in secrecy and treated as discretionary funds, despite persistent insecurity in many states.
Meanwhile, residents across the northern region have called on their governors to justify the spending by improving local security architecture and ensuring that the funds translate into tangible protection for communities increasingly under threat.
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