Sharpening legislative instruments to achieve national security in Nigeria
Nigeria’s persistent and deep-rooted national security failures demand a fundamental re-evaluation and transformation of the National Assembly’s (NASS) current methodology. The prevailing systemic challenges, which are multifaceted and interconnected, have rendered traditional legislative approaches largely ineffective. It is imperative that the 10th NASS moves beyond its conventional, often submissive, legislative tools, including legislation, appropriation and oversight, which are crucial components of democratic governance, but their current application has proven insufficient in compelling the executive to address critical security deficiencies. Instead, we are calling on the leadership, and indeed all parliamentarians in the 10th NASS, to embrace a more robust and proactive stance and move towards the implementation of definitive mechanisms specifically designed for executive coercion in order to ensure a more secure and stable Nigeria.
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Map of Nigeria showing threat elements in six geopolitical zones
The Fourth Republic commenced in 1999 and has seen the 4th to the 10th NASSs. To the current date in 2025, we have seen how security and defence budgets enjoyed exponential growth from about eighty billion Naira in 1999 to over six trillion Naira in 2025. Yet, this exponential growth is not being matched by commensurate improvement in the Nigerian Security Enterprise’s capabilities and capacity to address the country’s multifaceted insecurity challenges. Arguably, the NASS has been appropriating these huge funds to what can be likened to leaking baskets that hold defence and security sector ministries, departments and agencies’ purses. Civil society organisations have also documented how chairmen of the various security and defence as well as intelligence communities have suddenly become super-rich and claimants of various landed assets and businesses both locally and internationally.
“The systemic challenges underlying Nigeria’s persistent national security failures require the National Assembly (NASS) to move beyond traditional, often deferential, oversight toward implementing concrete mechanisms of executive coercion.”
On October 7, 2025, the two chambers of the National Assembly (NASS) resumed plenary after a 10-week annual recess, and, as is the traditional practice, the leadership of both chambers delivered grand speeches.
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In his speech, Senate President Godswill Akpabio emphasised accountability, responsiveness, and purposeful governance. He urged lawmakers to recommit to these principles, stating, “To the citizens of Nigeria, we hear you.” Akpabio described governance as a “sacred duty of trust and not theatrics”, calling for competence over popularity and selecting leaders “worthy of the people’s trust”. He highlighted positive economic developments, including improvements in Nigeria’s oil production and the stabilisation of state finances under President Bola Tinubu’s administration. Akpabio also stressed the need to combat ignorance and disease through stronger education and healthcare while providing youth with opportunities beyond hope. He concluded by charging the Senate to resume work “with fresh vigour and steadfast resolve”, legislating not just for the present but for future generations.
On his part, Speaker Tajudeen Abbas outlined a legislative roadmap focused on electoral reforms, economic recovery, gender inclusion, and security. Abbas stressed the urgency of finalising electoral reforms ahead of the 2027 elections to make the process less contentious, more cost-effective (e.g., via single-day voting), and inclusive, including provisions for an Electoral Offences Commission and democratic party primaries. He prioritised bills like the Reserved Seats Bill for Women and the State Police Bill. On the economy, Abbas noted that recovery and job creation remain central, addressing challenges faced by small and medium-sized enterprises such as high costs, unreliable electricity, and limited credit access. He also addressed insecurity—ranging from banditry and kidnapping to insurgency and farmer-herder clashes—calling for comprehensive reforms. Abbas described the 10th House as the most impactful since 1999 and urged unity and dialogue to advance Nigeria’s democratic evolution.
As noble as these speeches were, they failed to acknowledge the current malaise in the 10th NASS instrumentalities, especially as they relate to the defence and security as well as the intelligence sectors. The legislative instruments traditionally being used by the National Assembly to hold the defence and security as well as intelligence sectors accountable largely fall under its constitutional oversight function (as provided for in Section 88 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, CFRN). The most active, but arguably least potent, of these are the Standing and Ad-hoc Committees, which use their authority to summon officials, conduct investigative hearings into misconduct or operational failures, and perform oversight functions. Crucially, the Power of the Purse is exercised through the Budgetary Appropriation process, where the National Assembly scrutinises and approves the funding for all security agencies, and through the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which reviews the Auditor-General’s reports to enforce financial accountability. An additional power that resides in the Senate is the screening and confirmation of the appointments of security sector heads to ensure adherence to constitutional principles and competence.
The systemic challenges underlying Nigeria’s persistent national security failures require the National Assembly (NASS) to move beyond traditional, often deferential, oversight toward implementing concrete mechanisms of executive coercion. It is my ardent view that the most critical legislative instrument that the leadership of the 10th NASS can amend and sharpen to pressure the executive arm of government is the Annual Appropriation Act.
This instrument must be strategically repurposed, transforming it from a routine financial authorisation into a Conditional Security Performance Contract that enforces immediate fiscal discipline, mandated transparency, and accountability for security outcomes. The NASS’s exclusive constitutional authority over public funds, the “Power of the Purse”, provides the single highest-leverage recurring mechanism to compel measurable institutional reform.
The Annual Appropriation Act, derived from the NASS’s appropriation authority under Sections 59 and 80 of the CFRN, represents the single, recurring legislative nexus that mandates compulsory executive engagement. Section 80 grants the NASS the exclusive power to authorise the withdrawal of money from the Consolidated Revenue Fund, while Section 59 deals with the legislative procedure for appropriation bills. This provides the NASS with the ability to approve, vary, or question budgets proposed by the Executive. The NASS consistently demonstrates its capacity to exercise this power. In the 2025 fiscal cycle, for instance, the National Assembly increased the capital expenditure budget by N9.11 trillion, adjusting it from the proposed N14.85 trillion to N23.96 trillion. This significant restructuring capacity shows that the NASS has the intrinsic ability not only to cut funds but also to redirect, increase, or, crucially, impose conditional restraints on allocations. This institutional muscle means that the NASS can impose coercive conditions, forcing the Executive to comply with legislative priorities as a prerequisite for funding necessary operations. The Executive requires this annual legislative authorisation to withdraw and spend money.
This mandate establishes a mandatory, high-stakes platform for legislative influence that stands in sharp contrast to the slow, often contentious processes required for deep structural reforms, such as constitutional amendments.
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As observed above, there is a sharp contrast between the staggering amounts budgeted for defence and security and the concurrent rise in insecurity and corruption. This disparity strongly suggests that the issue is a failure of mechanism, specifically the absence of a legal instrument linking resource allocation to measurable security outcomes. The Appropriation Act is uniquely placed to enforce this causal link by transitioning government budgeting away from a focus on input (money spent) toward output (results achieved). Focusing legislative energy on the Appropriation Act provides an instrument that can immediately address fiscal accountability and effectiveness—the most immediate and actionable points of failure—rather than waiting for anticipated long-term structural changes to materialise.
The strategic imperative is to “sharpen” the Annual Appropriation Act by transforming it from a mere authorisation list into a coercive instrument that enforces accountability. This involves moving from unconditional budgetary approval to mandating conditional releases of funds that are explicitly linked to performance metrics and transparency requirements. Because the Executive relies on the annual budget for the very operation of its security agencies, leveraging this fiscal power represents the most immediate, non-negotiable, and potent pressure point to force compliance and transparency.
Our recommended strategic blueprint for the 10th assembly involves embedding specific, non-negotiable conditional clauses directly into the Appropriation Act, thereby weaponising existing accountability legislation. Firstly, an audit compliance trigger must be inserted, making the release of subsequent capital funds strictly contingent upon the security MDA satisfactorily addressing all significant audit queries raised by the Auditor-General in the preceding year, thus enforcing the currently toothless Federal Audit Service Act (FASA) 2023. Secondly, a Transparency and Disclosure Mandate is required to compel detailed, itemised budgetary reporting on procurement to combat secrecy and waste. Finally, clauses must link operational funds to verifiable Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), specifically demanding measurable improvements in inter-agency synergy and documented disciplinary actions against officials implicated in human rights abuses.
For this fiscal strategy to be fully effective, it must be supported by essential complementary legislative actions that address structural weaknesses. The 10th NASS needs to pass a robust whistleblower protection law to provide the internal intelligence conduit necessary for its committees to monitor and verify executive compliance with conditional appropriations. Furthermore, the 10th NASS must amend its Standing Orders to professionalise its oversight committees by mandating technical expertise and specialised experience for members and staff in the Security, Defence and Intelligence committees. Ultimately, the success of the “sharpened” Appropriation Act depends on the political will of the 10th NASS leadership to enforce these conditional clauses, resist executive pressure, and be prepared to suspend or redirect funds when non-compliance with the new rules is established. Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, principal officers, and indeed all parliamentarians of the 10th NASS have an opportunity to etch their names in the sands of time and avert Nigeria’s slide in the state fragility and global insecurity indices when they implement these recommendations.
Kabir Adamu is the Managing Director of Beacon Security and Intelligence Limited.
