Oshiomhole Says Corruption, Not Lack of Funds, Is Nigeria’s Biggest Security Challenge
Senator representing Edo North, Adams Oshiomhole, has declared that corruption and the lack of accountability in the management of public funds, rather than inadequate funding, remain the biggest obstacles to addressing Nigeria’s security challenges.
Oshiomhole made the declaration on Thursday while speaking as a panelist at the Arise News Town Hall Meeting on State Police held in Abuja.
He argued that simply increasing budgetary allocations to security agencies would not solve the country’s insecurity unless the government ensured transparency and value for money in the use of public resources.
Oshiomhole disclosed that his experience as a senator has given him a broader understanding of how public funds are allocated, leading him to conclude that the problem often lies in the management of available resources rather than their availability.
“I think the challenge sometimes is not so much about the availability of funds. It is how we can purge ourselves of the mentality that just throwing money at the problem will solve it,” he said.
The former Edo State governor noted that there was often a significant disconnect between the amounts appropriated and released for projects and the actual outcomes on the ground.
He attributed this to a culture of corruption and poor accountability, stressing that public officials must be committed to ensuring that citizens receive value for every naira spent.
Citing police barracks as an example, the senator questioned how funds allocated for their maintenance over the years had been utilised. “You go across the country and look at police barracks over the past 20 years. Check how much has been released to the Nigeria Police Force for barracks maintenance and then visit the barracks to see whether there is any evidence that such funds were actually injected into the system,” he stated.
According to him, increasing funding without addressing accountability would only perpetuate existing problems. “If we don’t deal with that, providing more money, in my view and from my experience, is not the answer.”
Speaking on the proposed establishment of state police, Oshiomhole stated that the current administration had demonstrated uncommon political will by supporting the decentralisation of policing.
He commended President Bola Tinubu for backing the proposal, describing the move as a reflection of the President’s reform-oriented leadership. “We are now fortunate to have a President who has the guts to say, ‘I will not monopolise the control of the police.’ That has to be understood,” he said.
Oshiomhole argued that many political leaders would prefer to retain control over the nation’s security apparatus, making Tinubu’s willingness to devolve some policing powers to the states a significant departure from the past.
“For the President to agree to divert part of this power to the states is a huge statement and consistent with his reformist agenda,” he asserted.
He also noted that the debate over state police had lasted for more than two decades, but previous administrations lacked the political will to implement the reform.
The senator, however, maintained that constitutional amendments alone would not guarantee better policing, insisting that Nigeria must equally address issues of integrity and public service ethics.
“I do believe that whatever we try to put in the law, the issue of character is more important than reforming the Constitution,” he added.
