In a stark contrast to the record N4.91 trillion allocated to the defense and security sector in the 2025 budget, intelligence agencies are facing a severe funding crisis, raising serious concerns about the nation’s ability to effectively combat emerging threats. This alarming revelation emerged during a recent House of Representatives Committee on National Security and Intelligence hearing.
Chairman of the committee, Hon. Sha’aban Sharada, expressed deep concern over the “grossly underfunded” intelligence subsector, which received a paltry N595 billion, a fraction of the overall security budget. This meager allocation, he lamented, severely hampers the capacity of critical agencies to fulfill their mandates, including counter-terrorism, intelligence gathering, and the protection of national leaders.
“It is heartbreaking,” Chairman Sharada stated, “that an agency like the National Centre for Counter Terrorism has received no capital release for the past two years. Similarly, the National Institute for Security Studies and the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons are yet to receive a single kobo for their capital projects in 2024.
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He further emphasized the inadequacy of capital releases to key agencies like the Department of State Services (DSS) and the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), hindering their ability to operate effectively. “These agencies,” Chairman Sharada stressed, “are crucial to national security, and their underfunding poses a significant threat to our collective well-being.”
The Permanent Secretary of the Special Services Office, Mohammed Danjuma, acknowledged the limitations imposed by the current “envelope system” of budgeting, which restricts resource allocation. Despite these constraints, he emphasized the agencies’ efforts to balance operational needs with the government’s fiscal realities.
In light of these critical concerns, Chairman Sharada has called upon President Bola Tinubu to intervene urgently. He urged the President to significantly increase allocations to intelligence agencies in the 2025 budget and to instruct the Minister of Finance to prioritize the immediate release of all outstanding 2024 budget allocations to these vital institutions.
This situation underscores the critical need for a comprehensive review of the security budget allocation process. While a substantial portion of the budget is earmarked for defense, adequate resources must be directed towards intelligence gathering and analysis, which are crucial for proactive threat assessment and effective countermeasures.
