Nigeria’s Ministry of Justice has flagged funding shortfalls and delays in disbursement as major obstacles to implementing critical reforms across Nigeria’s justice sector, the Attorney-General, Lateef Fagbemi, has told lawmakers.
Speaking on Wednesday while defending the Federal Ministry of Justice’s 2026 budget proposal before the House of Representatives Committee on Justice, Fagbemi stressed that adequate funding is essential for the ministry to carry out its mandate. He said the ministry’s operations are guided by the National Policy on Justice 2024 and the Strategic Plan 2023–2027, which align with the government’s broader justice sector roadmap under the Renewed Hope Agenda.
Fagbemi highlighted that while progress has been made in areas such as criminal justice administration, counter-terrorism efforts, exiting the FATF grey list, and asset recovery, limited budget allocations and delays in fund release have hindered project implementation and service delivery.
The minister provided a breakdown of budget performance over the past 10 months, noting that the ministry received N6.68 billion of N7.5 billion appropriated for overhead costs, 82 per cent, while capital expenditures lagged with only N869.63 million released from N6.75 billion, just 12 per cent, leaving projects effectively stalled. No funds were released for 2025 capital projects.
For the 2026 budget, Fagbemi revealed that the ministry is requesting N23.68 billion to cover personnel, overhead, and capital expenditures, aimed at sustaining reforms and supporting new initiatives.
In response, the Chairman of the House Committee on Justice, Olumide Osoba, assured that the committee would carefully review the ministry’s budget and those of its agencies to prevent funding gaps from undermining reform efforts. He also pledged strengthened oversight to ensure accountability and proper utilisation of all approved funds.
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