Key Points
- Nigeria spent N74.96bn on arms and military equipment between 2023 and 2025, with a single day of Ministry of Defence procurement in July 2024 accounting for over 80 percent of that year’s total.
- The data captures only transactions explicitly classified under arms and ammunition, meaning actual federal security spending over the period is likely far higher.
- Africa accounted for just 4.5 percent of global arms imports in 2024 and 2025, compared to Europe’s 48.2 percent, a gap analysts say undermines the continent’s ability to fight terrorism and insurgency.
The federal government spent nearly N75bn on arms, ammunition and military equipment over three years, according to spending data that shows procurement surging through 2024 even as security conditions across the country continued to deteriorate.
Figures from GovSpend, a civic technology platform that tracks public expenditure, show total arms-related spending reached N74.96bn between 2023 and 2025.
Spending peaked in 2024 at N40.84bn, up from N33.30bn in 2023, before dropping sharply to N819.46m in 2025 based on available entries. The increase between 2023 and 2024 amounted to N7.54bn, or roughly 22.6 percent.
Ministry of Defence leads the charge
The Ministry of Defence drove the bulk of spending across the review period. In 2023, the ministry recorded N9.17bn for ammunition procurement in November and another N6.89bn for similar purposes just two weeks later.
The Nigerian Army also logged major transactions on June 2, 2023, including N4.41bn for ammunition, N2.88bn for arms and N2.77bn for a surveillance attack aircraft. The Nigerian Navy spent N1bn in August and N5bn in December on arms and ammunition.
Other security agencies were active in the market as well. Defence Headquarters recorded N744.19m for military equipment and arms, the Nigeria Correctional Service spent N144.35m on arms and protective gear, and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps logged N172.77m on operational equipment.
A single day, N33bn
The most striking feature of the data is what happened on one day in 2024. On July 26, 2024 alone, the Ministry of Defence recorded five separate payments totalling N33.22bn for what it described as critical and urgent operational equipment. That single day’s spending accounted for over 80 percent of the total arms-related expenditure recorded in 2024.
The ministry also spent N990.89m on ammunition in April, N941.94m on armoured vehicles and ammunition, and N1.37bn as retention payment for similar contracts in December.
The Nigeria Immigration Service made multiple payments for rifles, pistols and ammunition to contractors including Keygate Ltd, Belrock Ltd and BNTI Arm Limited. The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency spent N1.94bn in December 2024 on arms and anti-riot equipment.
The gap between spending and safety
The data raises a pointed question. Nigeria has committed an estimated N32.88 trillion to defence over the past 15 years, representing about 12.5 percent of total national budgets, yet insecurity continues to affect several parts of the country.
Security data indicates more than 100,000 Nigerians have died in violent incidents since 2012, while as of 2026, at least 3.726 million people are displaced and living in about 3,900 camps.
The GovSpend figures capture only transactions explicitly classified under arms, ammunition and military equipment, meaning the true scale of government security spending is likely considerably higher.
Africa’s weapons deficit
Figures released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute show that Africa contributed just 4.5 percent of global arms imports in 2024 and 2025, compared to Europe’s 48.2 percent. Security analysts have warned that the gap weakens the capacity of African nations to respond to terrorism, insurgency and transnational crime.
Nigeria’s defence chief confirmed that operations are ongoing in the Northeast, Northwest and North-Central regions, with special forces deployed to Benue and Plateau states. Plans are underway to extend operations to parts of Kwara and Niger states amid rising insecurity there.
