LEGISLATIVE DRAFTING, TERRORISM FINANCING, AND THE ARCHITECTURE OF COUNTER-INSURGENCY: RE-POSITIONING THE LEGISLATURE IN SECURITY GOVERNANCE IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The prolonged struggle of Nigeria with insurgency and terrorism has exposed fundamental weaknesses in the legal and institutional architecture governing national security. While executive and military responses have dominated counter-insurgency efforts, legislative intervention remains the most enduring mechanism for structuring lawful security action, regulating institutional power, and ensuring accountability. This paper examines how legislative drafting quality shapes the effectiveness of the counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism framework in Nigeria, with particular emphasis on terrorism financing as a systemic enforcement challenge. The paper argues that the core problem of Nigeria is not the absence of counter-terrorism laws but the fragmentation, imprecision, and weak enforcement design of existing legislation. Through doctrinal and comparative analysis of the legal framework of Nigeria, alongside selected jurisdictions—the United Kingdom, Kenya, and the ECOWAS regional regime. The paper proposed a reform-oriented legislative model that repositions the National Assembly as a central architect of counter-terrorism governance through harmonised legislation, security-specific treatment of terrorism financing, mandatory coordination mechanisms, and institutionalised legislative oversight.