Poor Funding Threatens Nigeria's Justice Sector Reforms

Lateef Fagbemi, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, disclosed that the justice sector reform in Nigeria is under threat due to poor funding. Presenting the 2026 budget proposal to the House of Representatives Committee on Justice in Abuja, he explained that persistent non-release and inadequate allocation of funds are major impediments to effective delivery of justice sector reforms.

Fagbemi lamented that the insufficient budgetary allocations and delays in releasing appropriate funds significantly constrain the ministry's capacity to execute critical projects and deliver essential services to Nigerians. Despite these funding challenges, the ministry has made strides in reforming the criminal justice administration and counter-terrorism efforts, progressing towards exiting the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list.

He highlighted that the ministry received N6,675,702,827 out of N7,499,524,027 appropriated for overhead costs over ten months, representing an 82 percent performance in capital expenditure. Fagbemi also noted that the ministry received no funding for its 2025 capital projects.

Olumide Osoba, the chairman of the House Committee on Justice, assured that the committee would thoroughly scrutinize the ministry's budget estimates to ensure justice sector reforms are not hampered by inadequate funding.