Zamfara Spends N974Million On Foreign Trips, But Less Than Half On Security Amid Bandit Attacks

A SaharaReporters review of Zamfara State’s first-quarter 2025 budget performance has revealed that the state government spent a staggering N974 million on international travels between January and March—nearly eight times what it allocated to internal security during the same period.

Despite being one of Nigeria’s most insecure states, only N124 million was spent on internal security from a total annual allocation of N32.2 billion for the Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs during the period.

Further analysis shows that of the N8 billion budgeted for security votes, just N222 million was expended in Q1. This underspending comes amid relentless attacks by armed groups that have left residents dead, injured, or abducted.

Just this week, suspected bandits launched deadly attacks across parts of the state. In March alone, six operatives of the Zamfara State Community Protection Guards and four local vigilantes were killed in an ambush in the Anka Local Government Area. That same month, bandits also killed eight people and abducted several others along the Dansadau–Gusau road.

The underfunding of internal security isn’t new. In 2024, Zamfara proposed N13.1 billion for internal security but only approved N800 million—with a mere N30 million ultimately spent on capital projects. By contrast, the government allocated N1.4 billion for food and N3.68 billion for international travel that year.

In 2023, the trend persisted: the state approved N1.8 billion for internal security but spent nothing.

The effects have been tangible. In April 2024, Colonel Rabiu Garba, commandant of the state’s Community Guards, was suspended after criticising the government's lack of support for the unit.

With a population of 5.833 million persons, based on official data from the state’s website, and only N30 million spent on capital expenditure for internal security in 2024, the capital spending on internal security translated to less than N6 per resident.