The Federal Government has earmarked N1.371bn in the 2026 appropriation bill for the prosecution of Boko Haram, terrorism and related cases under the Federal Ministry of Justice, representing a sharp increase from the N530m approved for similar cases in 2025.
The 2026 provision was drawn from the Appropriation Bill (Details), as the Budget Office of the Federation had yet to release the detailed breakdown of the 2026 budget recently signed by President Bola Tinubu.
Tinubu, on Friday, signed the 2026 Appropriation Bill into law, approving a total budget of N68.32tn for the fiscal year.
The budget includes N5.41tn for defence and security, reflecting the government’s continued focus on tackling insecurity.
Analysis shows that the security allocation represents about 7.9 per cent of the total N68.32tn budget.
The spending plan also prioritises capital investment, with about half of the budget directed towards infrastructure and development projects.
A comparison of the two fiscal documents for 2025 and 2026 shows that the allocation for the prosecution of terrorists rose by about 159 per cent year-on-year.
In the 2026 proposal, the line item is listed as “BOKO HARAM, TERRORISM AND RELATED CASES” with a provision of N1.371bn, while in the 2025 Appropriation Act, it appeared as “MANAGEMENT OF TERRORISM RELATED CASES/ISSUES” with an allocation of N530m.
Further analysis shows that the terrorism-related provision is taking a larger share of the ministry’s capital spending.
The N1.371bn proposed for 2026 accounts for about 14.1 per cent of the Federal Ministry of Justice headquarters’ total capital expenditure of N9.725bn.
In contrast, the N530m approved in 2025 represented about 7.9 per cent of the headquarters’ capital budget of N6.750bn.
The overall budget for the ministry’s headquarters also increased within the period.
In 2025, the Federal Ministry of Justice headquarters had a total allocation of N19.861bn, comprising N5.611bn for personnel, N7.500bn for overhead, and N6.750bn for capital expenditure.
In the 2026 proposal, the headquarters allocation rose to N23.685bn, with N3.461bn for personnel, N10.500bn for overhead, and N9.725bn for capital spending.
This indicates an increase of about N3.825bn, or roughly 19.3 per cent, in the headquarters’ total budget year-on-year.
A closer look at the capital expenditure components shows that the terrorism-related allocation ranks among the major spending items at the headquarters level in 2026.
Other significant provisions include funding for the repair and renovation of the ministry’s headquarters building and Lagos zonal office, execution of international cases, liability management, and reforms in the criminal justice sector.
The upward revision suggests a shift in priority toward handling terrorism-related prosecutions, which may reflect increasing caseloads, rising operational costs, or the complexity of ongoing trials linked to insurgency and related offences.
Earlier in December 2025, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), urged the judiciary to expedite hearings in cases involving terrorism, human trafficking, kidnapping and other violent crimes, stressing that the judiciary must support national efforts to combat insecurity.
During the ceremony marking the commencement of the Court of Appeal 2025/2026 Legal Year, Fagbemi said, “At this solemn juncture in our national life, it is also impossible to ignore the grave challenge of insecurity that confronts our country. From insurgency and terrorism to banditry, kidnapping and violent crimes, these threats imperil not only the safety of our citizens but also the very fabric of our constitutional democracy.