The Federal Government released a total of N2.3 trillion in special intervention funding to Nigeria’s military and paramilitary agencies between October 2023 and September 2025, according to the latest documents from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).
Records from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation showed that the funds were disbursed in 23 equal tranches of N100 billion each under the “Ledger of Special Intervention Programme for Nigerian Military February, 2026.”
The documents indicated that the intervention fund functioned as a transit account, with each N100 billion inflow followed by a corresponding N100 billion disbursement, leaving no balance after payments were made.
The ledger opened with a brought-forward balance of N100 billion as of October 19, 2023. On the same date, the first N100 billion transfer was recorded as “Transfer from September 2023 Allocation 1/10.” The amount was paid out to the military on November 8, 2023.
A second tranche, described as “Transfer from October 2023 Allocation 2/10,” was received on November 20, 2023 and disbursed on December 20, 2023.
Subsequent entries showed that the third tranche from the November 2023 allocation was received on December 20, 2023. From that point, the beneficiary description was expanded from the military alone to include “Military and Paramilitary Agencies.”
The first phase of the intervention programme continued through June 2024, with ten allocations of N100 billion each, bringing the total for that phase to N1 trillion.
A second phase began in August 2024 with another N100 billion transfer from the July 2024 allocation. Like the first phase, ten tranches of N100 billion were released between August 2024 and June 2025, amounting to another N1 trillion.
The ledger then recorded a third phase starting in June 2025. Three additional transfers of N100 billion each were received from the May, June and July 2025 allocations and paid out between June and September 2025.
These three tranches added N300 billion, raising the total intervention funding for the programme to N2.3 trillion.
However, the FAAC documents did not provide details on how the funds were distributed among the armed forces and paramilitary agencies. The ledger also did not specify the operations, projects, or expenditure items the intervention funding was meant to support.
Beyond the intervention programme, the documents showed that the Federal Government also released N450 billion for non-regular allowances for military and paramilitary personnel over a three-month period in 2025.
Under a separate ledger titled “Ledger of Savings on Part Funding of Military and Para Military Non-Regular Allowances,” the funds were released in three tranches of N150 billion each for April, May, and June 2025.
In another entry, the government released N40 billion in September 2025 for security operations through the Office of the National Security Adviser.
Despite the scale of security spending, businesses continue to cite insecurity as the biggest challenge to operations across the country.
According to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Business Expectations Survey for February 2026, insecurity ranked as the top business constraint with an index score of 71.1, ahead of high or multiple taxes at 70.7 and insufficient power supply at 70.0.
The survey noted that insecurity, high taxes, power shortages, high interest rates, and bank charges remain the most significant factors affecting operational stability and profitability for businesses.
Analysts say the findings highlight persistent concerns about security conditions in the country, despite increased government spending on defence and security operations.
