The former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has vehemently criticized the
President Bola Tinubu-led administration, accusing it of corruption, incompetence, and a severe misplacement of priorities following revelations that the Nigerian Army received only 7% of its budgeted funds for security equipment in 2025.
Atiku, a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), described the situation as “scandalous indictment” of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) government.
Responding to a report by Daily Trust in a statement, which highlighted the paltry disbursement, Atiku emphasized that such inadequate funding severely compromises national security and the
effectiveness of the military.
“A poorly equipped army can neither protect itself, nor the country it’s supposed to serve.
“Lack of adequate funding compromises the security of our military forces and the country at large,” Atiku stated, attributing the issue to “incompetence, corruption that cause lack of proper and timely disbursement of funds.”
The Daily Trust report detailed alarming figures regarding the 2025 budget performance for security. 
Out of N20.56 billion budgeted for the Nigerian Army’s security equipment, only N1.46 billion, representing a mere 7.11%, was disbursed by December 31, 2025.
Furthermore, for general defence equipment, only N16.71 billion (4.96%) was released from a budgeted N336.76 billion.
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) also faced significant shortfalls, with only N5.25 billion (33.33%) released for the security equipment from N15.75 billion, and mere N19.25 billion (6.45%) disbursed for defence equipment out of N298.44 billion.
Atiku drew a direct link between the insufficient funding and recent casualties within the military.
“You cannot separate the recent high profile deaths of military commanders from the corruption, incompetence and lack of sincerity,” he asserted, demanding apology from the Tinubu administration for its “colossal incompetence and lethargy.”
He further accused the government of being more preoccupied with the 2027 elections than with addressing the nation’s escalating security challenges.“Non-implementation of budgetary allocations have severe consequences for national security, but the government is behaving with cavalier indifference because it’s more obsessed with the 2027 elections than the security of the country,” Atiku added.
He questioned the administration’s credibility for seeking re-election, stating, “What will be Tinubu’s credible campaign issue in 2027?”
The former Vice President concluded that no country could expect its military to perform miracles with such minimal equipment funding.
