Senate Slams Envelope Budgeting, Seeks Adequate Funding for Security Agencies

Patrick.Isaac

Nigeria’s Senate on Tuesday faulted the Federal Government’s envelope budgeting system, describing it as inadequate to tackle Nigeria’s worsening security challenges.

Yahaha Abdullahi, Chairman of the Senate Committee on National Security and Intelligence, raised the concern during the 2026 budget defence session of the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) in Abuja.

Abdullahi said the current funding framework has continued to fall short of meeting the operational demands of security and intelligence agencies, despite the declaration of a national emergency on security by President Bola Tinubu.

He blamed inadequate and delayed fund releases especially capital allocations in the 2024 and 2025 budgets for crippling nationwide security operations.

He said, “The envelope budgeting system is not sufficient to address the magnitude of security threats confronting the nation,” Abdullahi said. “If we are serious about winning the fight against insecurity, then our funding structure must reflect that seriousness. Security agencies cannot operate optimally under financial constraints and delayed releases.”

Abdullahi further noted that several capital projects captured in previous budgets were either not implemented or only partially executed, thereby hampering efforts to strengthen intelligence gathering and operational capacity.

Permanent Secretary, Special Services, Office of the National Security Adviser, Mohammed Sanusi, identified the envelope budgeting system, irregular overhead releases, and the non-implementation of capital appropriations as major impediments to performance.

“The envelope budgeting framework has posed significant challenges to our operations,” Sanusi stated. “Irregular overhead releases and the failure to fully implement capital appropriations have affected our ability to effectively coordinate and support security agencies.”

He stressed the need for a more flexible and responsive funding mechanism that would enable security institutions to promptly address emerging threats.

The committee assured the Office of the National Security Adviser of improved legislative backing to enhance national security efforts.

“We are committed to providing the necessary legislative support to ensure that our security architecture is strengthened,” Abdullahi added.

The committee subsequently proceeded into a closed-door session to deliberate further on the budget proposal.