ENUGU, NIGERIA (VOICE OF NAIJA)- Thirty-one state governments spent a combined N252.26 billion on security-related activities in the first half of 2026, even as killings, kidnappings, banditry and other violent crimes continued to threaten communities across the country., Punch reports.
An analysis of state budget performance reports for the first and second quarters of the year, obtained from Open Nigerian States, a BudgIT-backed repository of government budget data, showed that Kogi recorded the highest expenditure at N34.67 billion.
Plateau followed with N23.69 billion, while Bauchi spent N22.35 billion. Together, the three states accounted for N80.70 billion, representing about 32 per cent of the total expenditure captured in the analysis.
The spending covered security equipment, homeland security personnel, security votes and operations, ministries of security and special advisers, as well as security trust funds.
The data showed a sharp expansion in state-level security spending compared with the previous year. However, a direct year-on-year comparison was possible for only 22 states with available 2025 figures.
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For those states, expenditure rose from N75.84bn in 2025 to approximately N144.44 billion in 2026, representing an increase of about N68.61 billion, or 90.5 per cent.
The broader N252.26 billion figure covers 31 states in the latest dataset and should therefore not be treated as a direct 36-state comparison with 2025.
The increase came amid continuing security challenges across the country, raising fresh questions over whether higher allocations are producing corresponding improvements in the protection of lives and property.
Security votes and related homeland security expenditure accounted for the largest category, rising from N47.67 billion to N135.61 billion, an increase of N87.94 billion, or 184.5 per cent.
Spending by ministries of security and special advisers also increased from N14.95 billion to N42.15 billion, representing a rise of N27.20 billion, or 181.9 per cent.
Security equipment accounted for N37.08 billion, while N26.89 billion was spent on homeland security personnel.
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Expenditure through security trust funds stood at N10.53bn, compared with N6.82 billion previously, an increase of N3.71 billion, or 54.4 per cent.
Kogi’s N34.67 billion expenditure placed it well ahead of other states in the analysis, accounting for 13.74 per cent of the total.
Plateau’s N23.69 billion represented 9.39 per cent, while Bauchi’s N22.35 billion accounted for 8.86 per cent.
Bayelsa ranked fourth with N17.49 billion, followed by Ekiti with N14.83 billion and Anambra with N13.40 billion.
Sokoto recorded N11.27 billion, while Ondo and Kaduna spent N10.54 billion and N10.37 billion respectively.
Kebbi recorded N10.14 billion, Adamawa N9.95 billion , Zamfara N9.07 billion and Borno N8.29 billion.
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Kano spent N8.26 billion, Katsina N7.21 billion, Niger N5.36 billion and Nasarawa N5.18 billion .
Ebonyi recorded N4.72 billion, Kwara N4.69 billion and Delta N4.63 billion, while Oyo spent N3.82 billion.
Enugu recorded N3.46 billion, followed by Cross River with N2.43 billion. Ogun spent N1.73 billion, Imo N1.52 billion and Taraba N1.38 billion.
Abia recorded N766.72 million, Lagos N615.12 million and Jigawa N395.33 million.
Gombe recorded N48.02 million, while Benue had only N1.58 million across the categories contained in the data.
Akwa Ibom, Osun, Rivers and Yobe recorded no expenditure in the listed categories. Edo was also listed without figures, while the supplied data contained no separate entry for the Federal Capital Territory.