Punch has learnt from sources that a sum of around N500 billion was deducted from the May 2026 revenue of the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) to fund a national security emergency intervention.
Several senior officials who are conversant with the FAAC proceedings confirmed that the deduction was made before the monthly revenue sharing among the Federal Government, states and the 774 local government councils.
One of the sources said: “FAAC deducted ₦500 billion this month for the national security emergency fund.
“The deduction accounted for a substantial part of the difference between gross revenue earned and what was ultimately shared,” said another official.
That is where the FAAC windfall is going also,” the source said.
The official also said the deduction was known to the 36 states’ commissioners of finance who are members of FAAC.
Commissioners aren’t talking about it, which means they’re in the know,” the source added.
Docs Show Massive Deductions
Punch gathered on Thursday that substantial deductions were made from federation revenues during the May 2026 FAAC meeting, according to an official FAAC allocation document.
₦250 billion was allocated for a Military Intervention Fund, the document says. It also says that ₦252 billion was allocated as an Infrastructure Development Fund to states.
It also revealed that N450 billion was deducted into the Non-Oil Excess Revenue Account, bringing the total value of the three major deductions to N952 billion.
The disclosure followed the announcement by the FAAC of the distribution of ₦2.3tn to the Federal Government, states and local government councils as revenue allocation for May 2026.
FAAC said the sum, an increase of ₦43 billion over the ₦2.26 trillion shared the previous month, was contained in a statement issued on Wednesday by the Director of Press and Public Relations in the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation, Bawa Mokwa.
The May allocation is up 1.9 percent month-on-month and continues the recent rise in federation revenues.
The statement said the ₦2.300 trillion distributable revenue comprised of ₦1.611 trillion statutory revenue and ₦688.785 billion Value Added Tax revenue.
A communiqué released after the meeting revealed that total gross revenue available in May stood at ₦3.395 trillion.
Out of the amount, ₦123.546 billion was deducted as cost of collection, while ₦971.610 billion was earmarked for transfers and refunds.
A breakdown revealed that the Federal Government got ₦818.680 billion while state governments got ₦759.141 billion.
The 774 local government councils got ₦534.277 billion, while oil-producing states shared ₦188.132 billion as 13 per cent derivation revenue.
While the official FAAC communiqué did not reveal the specific items under transfers and refunds, sources said the N500bn security deduction was part of the pre-distribution adjustments made to the federation revenue for the month.
Security Tightens
The cut comes as insecurity continues to plague the nation and pressure mounts on federal and state governments to ramp up military and intelligence operations.
Nigeria continues to grapple with insurgency in the North-East, banditry and mass kidnappings in the North-West, farmer-herder clashes in the North-Central, separatist agitation in the South-East, and crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism in the Niger Delta.
Despite huge annual budgetary allocations to defence and security, attacks on communities, abductions for ransom and assaults on security formations have continued to overstretch the country’s security architecture.
The administration of President Bola Tinubu has repeatedly described national security as a priority and a condition for economic growth and social stability.
Since taking office in May 2023 the Federal Government has boosted funding for the armed forces, approved the procurement of military hardware and increased intelligence-led operations against violent crimes.