THE NIGERIA Atomic Energy Commission has budgeted 45 percent of its 2025 budget on salaries of its staff despite Nigeria’s low nuclear presence.
According to the 2025 national budget seen by Economy Post, the commission set aside N1.808 billion to pay the salaries of its staff in 2025 from a total budget of N4.041 billion.
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Its total personnel cost stands at N2.48 billion, which is 61.37 percent of the total budget, leaving merely 39 percent tfor other essential items, including developing a template for the national atomic energy.
Like other government departments and agencies, the Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission will spend N265 million on the construction of an unnamed office building.
It will also spend N718.183 million on the construction of another unnamed office building and a N344.794 million on the “rehabilitation of existing infrastructures.”
The agency has also budgeted N198.636 million for the purchase of motor vehicles and equally a N2.762 billion for the “construction/provision of infrastructures.”
There is also a N110 million set aside for the construction of a fire service station. The sum of N140 million for the “provision of training and research infrastructures and facilities.”
Incidentally, nothing is set aside for the core mandate of the commission, which relates to atomic energy – with Nigeria having low nuclear presence.
Also, the budget is full of unclear general items, which do not make financial sense, according to analysts.
“Take for instance, what is really the meaning of ‘project monitoring and evaluation?’ and ‘rehabilitation of office building?’ What project(s) are you monitong or evaluating? Where is the office building? We have been getting away with this kind of budget for long,” said a Lagos-based financial expert, Dr Jerry Udukwe.
The commission did not respond to text and WhatsApp messages sent to it for comment.
Agency’s Mandate
The agency’s goal is “to develop the ways and technical machinery to effectively explore, exploit and harness atomic energy for peaceful applications for sustainable national development.”
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Its vision is “to lay an enduring foundation for the building of a world-class institution for the development and peaceful deployment of nuclear technology in all its ramifications for national development in conformity with international best practices.”
Similarly, its mission is “to develop a sustainable framework imbued with the fundamental elements of a high safety culture for the peaceful application of nuclear science and technology for the socio-economic development of Nigeria.”
However, the budget is only focused on buildings, fire service station, among others, ignoring the most critical responsibiility for which the agency was set up in the first place.
The Geregu nuclear power
There was a need for Nigeria to develop a nuclear presence. With the support from Russia, the Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission (NAEC) selected the Geregu site alongside the Itu nuclear site with a total estimated investment of $20 billion in July 2015.
According to the Global Nuclear Energy Monitor, “The power plant is being developed under a build-own-operate (BOO) partnership between Russian-owned corporation, Rosatom, and the Nigerian government. Part of this agreement stipulates that Russian financing will be provided as an option for the project, and that ownership and operations will be transferred to the Nigerian Government nuclear regulatory arm after development of the Geregu nuclear power plan.”
Nigeria still has low nuclear presence and wants to exploit nuclear energy to increase its power generation. But lack of funding, infrastructure and political remains key issues.
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“Creating the necessary nuclear infrastructure and building the first nuclear power plant will take at least 10 to 15 years,” said Mr Milko Kovachev, head of the International Atomic Energy Commission (IAEA)’s Nuclear Infrastructure Development Section, as seen on IAEA website.
“A successful nuclear power programme requires broad political and popular support and a national commitment of at least 100 years, Mr. Kovachev added. This includes committing to the entire life cycle of a power plant, from construction through electricity generation and, finally, decommissioning,” he explained.
Hei said addition to time, there was the issue of costs, noting that “governments and private operators need to make a considerable investment that includes projected waste management and decommissioning costs.”
