The Federal Ministry of Justice executed no capital projects in 2025, despite a warranted allocation of N869.63 million (12% of its total capital budget of N6.749 billion), which was not cash-backed, resulting in zero funding for implementation. This revelation came during Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), appearance before the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights, and Legal Matters to defend the ministry’s 2026 budget estimates on Wednesday.
![](https://thenigerialawyer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/SADR.jpeg")
Senators expressed serious alarm over the development, describing it as “dangerous” for justice delivery. Committee Chairman Senator Adeniyi Adegbonmire (SAN) noted that while the 2026 allocation represents an increase, sustained non-cash-backed budgets could leave the sector stagnant. He emphasized the need for judicious spending and expressed hope for improved releases this year, stressing that delays and bureaucratic bottlenecks particularly harm the justice sector, which is central to societal stability.
Senator Osita Izunaso echoed this, calling the zero execution “very dangerous” and questioning how the ministry could function without capital releases for an entire year. He urged bypassing typical bureaucratic hurdles for the justice sector to enable speedy responses.
Fagbemi highlighted broader challenges hindering the ministry, including infrastructural deficits, inadequate and delayed funding, prison overcrowding, limited legal aid access, rising cybercrime, terrorism and transnational crimes, and human resource constraints amid increasing workloads. He argued that the critical mandate of the ministry warrants priority concessions.
For 2026, the ministry and its parastatals received a total allocation of N150 billion (excluding N20 billion for the National Human Rights Commission), with the ministry’s share at N23.68 billion: Personnel (N3.455 billion), Overhead (N10.499 billion), and Capital (N9.724 billion). Fagbemi stressed that increased funding is essential for implementing the National Policy on Justice, law reforms to address outdated legislation, capacity building through training and technology, and expanded public legal education.
Addressing systemic issues, Fagbemi criticized the current centralized payment system for capital projects managed by the Ministry of Finance as being plagued by difficulties and complexities, making releases dependent on connections. He advocated reverting to the previous decentralized system, where funds were released directly to MDAs for execution, arguing it was more efficient and less prone to delays. Adegbonmire indicated shared concerns among senators, noting that such bottlenecks pressure the entire system when they affect justice delivery.
The non-execution of 2025 capital projects across many MDAs prompted President Bola Tinubu to roll over 70% to 2026, but the remaining portion has also suffered from funding shortfalls and the centralized system’s inefficiencies. Fagbemi called for combined budgetary support and legislative reforms to enable transformative progress in access to justice, human rights, and institutional strengthening.
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