According to statistics, a civic tech platform that tracks public expenditure, the Federal Government spent at least N74.96 billion on weapons, ammunition, and military equipment between 2023 and 2025.
The breakdown of the data stated that, spending increased from N33.30 billion in 2023 to N40.84 billion in 2024 before significantly declining to N819.46 million in 2025.
This shows that from 2023 and 2024, there was a rise of N7.54 billion, or roughly 22.6%, with 2024 accounting for more than half of the total spending examined.
The Ministry of Defence and the armed forces dominated spending in 2023, according to an analysis of the statistics.
On November 7, 2023, the ministry alone recorded N9.17 billion for the purchase of ammunition, and on November 21, 2023, it recorded an additional N6.89 billion for same purposes.
Over N102 million in additional statutory deductions were associated with these contracts.
On June 2, 2023, the Nigerian Army also reported significant transactions, including N4.41 billion for ammunition, N2.88 billion for weapons, and N2.77 billion for a surveillance attack aircraft.
The Nigerian Navy purchased weapons and ammunition for N1 billion in August and N5 billion in December.
They did not exclude other security agencies.
The Nigeria Correctional Service spent N144.35 million on weapons and protective gear, while Defence Headquarters reported spending N744.19 million on military hardware.
Additionally, the National Park Headquarters spent N13.91 million on weapons and ammunition, while the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps recorded N172.77 million on operating equipment.
In 2024, spending increased dramatically, mostly due to the Ministry of Defence’s bulk purchases.
The ministry reported five distinct payments totaling N33.22 billion for what it called “critical and urgent operational equipment for the Nigerian military” on July 26, 2024 alone.
Over 80% of all arms-related spending in 2024 was spent in a single day, indicating a concentration of large-scale defence procurement in a brief amount of time.
Subsequent investigation revealed that the Ministry of Defence also spent N1.37 billion in retention payments for comparable contracts in December, N990.89 million for ammunition in April, and N941.94 million on armoured vehicles and ammunition.
During the year, procurement was also increased by other agencies. The Nigeria Immigration Service documented several payments to several contractors, such as Keygate Ltd., Belrock Ltd., and BNTI Arm Limited, for rifles, handguns, and ammunition.
For counter-narcotics operations, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency spent N1.94 billion in December 2024 on weapons, ammo, and anti-riot equipment; police formations also reported payments for firearms tracking systems and training on handling weapons.
During the year, acquisitions of weapons and ammunition were also made by the Nigerian Defence Academy and the NSCDC.
The 2025 entries, on the other hand, were restricted to the NDLEA and far fewer.
The agency reported mobilization for armaments acquisition of N245.84 million in September and final payment of N573.62 million in December, totaling N819.46 million for the year.
The spending trend revealed that although several security agencies purchased weapons and equipment throughout that time, the Ministry of Defence accounted for the majority of the expenditures, especially in 2024 when large-scale purchases dominated the data.
The numbers, however, only include transactions in the dataset that are specifically categorized as weapons, ammunition, and military equipment, indicating that the true amount of money spent by the federal government on security during that time may have been much more.
Nigeria and other African nations faced increased security concerns since they had restricted access to sophisticated weaponry, according to data that indicated the continent accounted for a small portion of global arms imports, as previously reported by The PUNCH.
According to data published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Europe accounted for 48.2% of the world’s weaponry imports in 2024 and 2025, while Africa only supplied 4.5%.
The report, which was released in March 2026, measures the amount of key weapons systems that are transferred internationally, including sales, military assistance, and licensed manufacturing, as opposed to their monetary worth.
Security experts cautioned that the discrepancy would make it more difficult for African countries to effectively combat escalating threats including terrorism, insurgency, and transnational crimes.
