The top military source revealed how inflated military units and formations, troop figures, ghost budgeting practices, and deliberate logistical sabotage are undermining the country’s fight against insurgency and armed banditry.
A top military strategist has exposed how deep-rooted corruption and systemic manipulation within the Nigerian Army are not only sabotaging Nigeria’s fight against terrorists and insecurity, but are also the major cause of the deaths of dozens of soldiers.
The top military source revealed how inflated military units and formations, troop figures, ghost budgeting practices, and deliberate logistical sabotage are undermining the country’s fight against insurgency and armed banditry.
The source, who spoke to SaharaReporters on condition of anonymity, painted a disturbing picture of how billions of naira allocated for defence are siphoned through a network of falsified records, under-strength units, and mismanaged resources at the highest levels of military command.
According to the source, while there may not be outright “ghost soldiers” in the traditional sense, a more sophisticated scheme exists within the system.
“In the case of the Nigerian Army, there are no ‘ghost’ soldiers per se, but rather, ‘mushroom’ units and brigades were created that were grossly under-strength, but funds are collected 100% to cover things like administrative costs, logistics and other expenses,” the source revealed.
The insider source further disclosed that personnel records are deliberately manipulated to enable fraudulent payments and enrich senior officers.
“Some of the personnel (soldiers) are accounted for in more than one unit or formation, and allowances are paid accordingly but, of course, the individual who has been accounted for in multiple units only receives his correct amount (once) while the rest goes to the ‘power-that-be’, which is, the topmost brass,” the source added.
This manipulation, the insider military source said, creates a dangerous disparity between what exists on paper and the actual operational capacity of troops in the field.
“So, you have a situation where the strength of troops on the ground in the various theatres of operations is far less than what is reflected on paper, for which administrative and logistical costs are provided,” the source explained.
Providing further insight into the structure of the Nigerian Army, the source noted that standard infantry battalions are expected to maintain significant manpower.
“A typical infantry unit (battalion) based on the approved organization (strength) should be between 500 plus to over 800, all ranks, which depends on the type and role of the unit,” the source said.
However, the insider source said that reality falls drastically short of these figures, even as full funding continues to be drawn.
The situation, according to the source, extends beyond personnel numbers to include equipment and logistics, particularly in mechanized and motorized units.
“A motorised unit has a number of vehicles in its Table of Equipment (TOE) for which maintenance costs and petroleum, oil and lubricants (POL) are provided for,” the insider source said.
“But seldom will you find a unit with 10% holding, but what the Army HQs submits as budgetary requirements will reflect that unit as having a complete TOE.”
The military strategist said that this practice is replicated across various formations, including armoured, amphibious, and artillery units, where operational readiness is severely compromised despite heavy budgetary allocations.
“The logistics which mechanised, amphibious or riverine armoured and even artillery units require are enormous, but as with the infantry units, you hardly find any of them having up to a quarter of the vehicles and equipment in their holdings,” the source disclosed.
“Thus, one can imagine what is budgeted for brigades and divisions. So, the actual amount which is spent on the Army is not up to 25% of the huge amount budgeted for the Army.”
The source further alleged that another major avenue for siphoning funds involves falsifying the condition of military equipment.
“One other way that money is being siphoned from the treasury by the Army is by reflecting unserviceable or even damaged equipment and vehicles as serviceable and in operational state and collecting funds for their maintenance,” the insider source told SaharaReporters.
The source described the withholding of approved logistics from frontline units as one of the most alarming aspects of the alleged corruption.
“The most worrisome aspect is that the approved funds or logistics are not provided to the units or formations by higher HQs,” the source said.
Giving a specific example, the insider source explained how fuel allocations are drastically reduced before reaching operational units.
“A 5-ton vehicle may require 100 litres of Automotive Gasoline Oil (AGO) per day. That would be what Army HQ would have budgeted, and probably received approvals for, but hardly would 20 litres per week be provided to the unit for that vehicle,” the source revealed.
Maintenance practices, the military source added, are equally neglected, often with severe consequences.
“It is even worse for maintenance (servicing) of vehicles and equipment as they miss their maintenance/service schedule by several months,” the source said.
“Thus, the lubricants (engine oil) as well as parts required for servicing, i.e., plug, that are not utilized represent ‘savings’ to the higher commander, which is diverted to private pockets.”
Field commanders, the military source claimed, are often forced to cope with inadequate resources under questionable justifications.
“Unit and formation commanders are often told to ‘manage’ the little that is given under the pretext that the Army HQ does not get what it asked for, as it is the Envelope Budget System that is operated in the country,” he explained.
However, the strategist dismissed claims of underfunding, pointing to multiple funding channels available to the military.
“It is a known fact that the Army and other Services get special funding for operations. The National Assembly records and statements by individual lawmakers attest to that,” he said.
“So, it is not true that the military is grossly underfunded, but rather, the funds are misapplied or outrightly misappropriated.”
The insider stressed that tackling the alleged corruption would require extraordinary political will, as multiple layers of government are allegedly complicit.
“Addressing this corruption will require a lot of courage by any Commander-in-Chief. This is because just about everyone in the Executive and Legislative Arm of Government benefits from the ‘gravy train,’” the source alleged.
The strategist also expressed skepticism about adopting alternative procurement systems used in other countries, noting that entrenched interests could sabotage reforms.
According to him, “If the government is to adopt what is practised in some countries, whereby funds are rarely given to the military except in exceptional cases, but rather, contractors are utilised by the government and the military requests and signs for items supplied, it may be difficult to implement.
“The military, along with the complicit National Assembly, would find a way around this, or the system would be ‘sabotaged’ by the military itself by claiming that the system is hindering its operations.”
The military strategist warned that the consequences of these practices are already evident in the military’s operational struggles against insurgents and bandits.
“What is certain is that the corruption in the Nigerian military is undermining operations and consequently, the effectiveness of the military,” he said.
The source told SaharaReporters, “The poor performance of the military in operations is a reflection of a number of failings, and corruption is topmost of these. So, it is imperative that we kill corruption in the military, else we risk the collapse of the military as a whole.”
The source further highlighted how poor maintenance culture can lead to catastrophic failures during combat situations.
“When routine maintenance (service) schedules are missed, deliberately and persistently, and also, if critical items/parts such as POL are not supplied or supplied far below what is required, commanders often keep the equipment stationary, and the result could be disastrous when these equipment are required for immediate use (operation),” he warned.
“This results in equipment/vehicle failure at critical moments, and often this has terrible consequences. The ISWAP attack on Benisheik that resulted in the death of Brig Gen. Oseni Braimah is a good example of this.”
The military strategist stressed that both manpower shortages and deliberate structural distortions have left many units incapable of effectively confronting security threats.
“As earlier pointed out, most units and formations (brigades and establishments) are grossly under-strength in the various theatres of operations, either as a deliberate policy – establishments of mushroom units and brigades under the guise of ‘task force’, but which the Army HQ receive humongous amounts in the budget approved, or because the Army generally lacks sufficient manpower,” the source noted.
“The consequences of these are that units or formations are not in a fit-to-fight state and thus, present little resistance when they are subjected to intense pressure (attacks) by adversaries like Boko Haram or even rag-tag bandits wielding AK-47.”
The revelations come at a time when Nigeria is grappling with one of the most complex and widespread security crises in its modern history, with violence cutting across nearly all geopolitical zones of the country.
In the North-East, a brutal insurgency led by Boko Haram and its offshoot, Islamic State West Africa Province, has persisted for over a decade, leading to tens of thousands of deaths and displacing millions of civilians.
Despite repeated military offensives and claims of “technical defeat,” both groups continue to launch deadly attacks on military formations and civilian communities.
The North-West and parts of the North-Central regions have witnessed a surge in banditry, mass kidnappings, and village raids carried out by heavily armed groups.
These attacks have targeted schools, highways, and rural communities, often overwhelming local security presence and exposing gaps in intelligence and rapid response capabilities.
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