Budget Blowout: FG Sets Aside N1.37 Billion for Boko Haram Trials

The Federal Government is putting a heavy price tag on justice. In the 2026 appropriation bill, the government has allocated N1.371 billion specifically for the prosecution of Boko Haram and other terrorism-related cases.

This is a massive jump—roughly a 159 per cent increase—from the N530 million spent on similar prosecutions in 2025. The funding is carved out under the Federal Ministry of Justice, reflecting a government that is now prioritizing the legal “cleanup” of the insurgency as much as the military fight.

The urgency is clear. The Federal High Court in Abuja has already been working through mass trials, securing 386 convictions out of 508 cases. However, this surge in funding also raises questions. With so much money flowing into “terrorism-related cases,” the transparency of these often-secret trials remains a point of contention for critics.

Attorney-General Lateef Fagbemi has been pushing the judiciary to move faster, arguing that timely justice is a key part of national security. With another phase of mass trials scheduled for mid-June 2026, the government is betting that high-volume convictions will send a deterrent message.

But spending billions on trials after the fact doesn’t solve the root cause of the insurgency. While the budget for defence and security hits N5.41 trillion, the legal battle is becoming an expensive, long-term war of attrition.

Sources: The Star, Punch, Politics Nigeria