The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) received budget provisions of approximately N985 billion between 2022 and 2025, but its orientation camps continue to face accommodation constraints, with capital expenditure accounting for a small share of the scheme’s total funding, BusinessDay has found.
An analysis of federal budget documents between 2022 and 2025 showed that provisions for the scheme amounted to approximately N985.13 billion, covering personnel, overhead and capital expenditure.
NYSC’s capital expenditure provision increased from N942.57 million in 2022 to N1.98 billion in 2025, while accommodation constraints persisted across several orientation camps.
Ahead of its 2025 Batch A Stream II and Batch C orientation programmes, NYSC admitted it could accommodate only about 40 percent of registered prospective corps members, with those not accommodated deferred to subsequent batches.
In NYSC’s 2023 annual report, analysed by our correspondent, several challenges were identified across state secretariats, including the absence of permanent orientation camps, inadequate camp accommodation facilities, and shortages of bunk beds and mattresses.
In Lagos, the temporary orientation camp at Iyana-Ipaja accommodated only 3,212 of the 7,887 prospective corps members deployed to the state for the 2025 Batch A Stream II exercise.
The remaining 4,675 were transferred to Kwara, Ekiti, Ondo and Osun for orientation.
The permanent camp at Agbowa was still under construction in November 2026, when the state coordinator said that only 2,427 of 7,138 corps members deployed to Lagos could be accommodated at Iyana-Ipaja.
Similar pressure recently surfaced in Ogun State, when 4,152 prospective corps members registered for the Batch C Stream II orientation exercise at the Sagamu camp. The state government set the camp’s normal capacity at slightly above 2,000 corps members per batch.
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Videos circulating online showed some corps members sleeping on mattresses in a crowded multipurpose hall.
The government said the arrangement was temporary, pending the completion of registration and hostel allocation.
The accommodation problem was also evident in Rivers State, where 4,485 corps members were deployed for the 2026 Batch C Stream II exercise.
The NYSC coordinator described existing facilities as overstretched and called for work to begin on two approved hostels, each designed to accommodate 1,000 corps members
Rising mobilisation and pressure on camp facilities
Available records obtained by BusinessDay estimated that NYSC mobilised or deployed approximately 1.5 million corps members between 2022 and 2025.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) 2022 recorded 303,217 corps members deployed in 2022.
NYSC’s 2023 annual report put the cumulative number of graduates mobilised since the scheme’s inception at 5,523,763 as of December 2023, suggesting that 365,225 graduates were mobilised in 2023, based on the difference from the 2022 cumulative figure of 5,158,538.
For 2024, the NYSC’s annual report had projected 430,000 corps members for mobilisation.
In September 2025, Brigadier General Olakunle Nafiu, the NYSC Director-General, said approximately 400,000 corps members had been mobilised that year.
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BusinessDay gathered that the growing number of graduates deployed for national service has increased the demand on NYSC orientation camps, putting pressure on the facilities available to receive them.
Available records, however, showed that the increase in the number of graduates being mobilised has not been matched by evidence of corresponding expansion in camp capacity.
NYSC funding and the infrastructure gap
BusinessDay’s analysis of NYSC budget provisions found that funding increased from 2022 to 2025, but capital expenditure remained small relative to personnel and overhead cost.
Allocations appeared under the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development in 2022 and 2023, and the Federal Ministry of Youth Development after the ministry’s 2024 restructuring.
An analysis of the four-year budget provisions showed that personnel expenditure accounted for N873.72 billion, while overhead costs received N106.71 billion. Capital expenditure amounted to approximately N4.71 billion.
In 2022, the NYSC had an approved budget of N178.78 billion, comprising N161.76 billion for personnel, N16.08 billion for overhead and N942.57 million for capital expenditure.
The following year, its approved allocation stood at N180.20 billion, with N160.47 billion for personnel, N18.93 billion for overhead and N802.64 million for capital projects.
The 2024 executive budget increased the scheme’s total provision to N195.44 billion, including N163.05 billion for personnel, N31.42 billion for overhead and N980.83 million for capital expenditure.
In 2025, the allocation rose sharply to N430.70 billion, comprising N388.44 billion for personnel, N40.28 billion for overhead and N1.98 billion for capital projects.
A further analysis of the capital project schedules identified N645.96 million in budget provisions for bunk beds and mattresses for orientation camps between 2022 and 2025.
The 2022 approved budget provided N89.24m for 2,000 double bunks and N35.63m for 2,000 mattresses; 2023 provided N54.38m for 1,000 bunks and N21.71m for 1,000 mattresses.
The 2024 executive proposal listed N174m for 2,000 bunks and N99m for 3,000 mattresses; the 2025 proposal listed N120m for 1,000 bunks and N52m for mattresses.
Deteriorating camp facilities across states
Reports and official documents reviewed by BusinessDay show persistent accommodation and infrastructure problems at NYSC camps between 2022 and 2026, including overcrowding, inadequate hostels, damaged buildings, water shortages and disrupted orientation exercises.
In March 2022, Fatima Abubakar, NYSC Governing Board chairman, criticised Paiko camp, Niger, citing inadequate, overused hostels and toilets. The 2023 annual report recorded accommodation and bunk shortages, erosion threats and poor electricity in South-East camps.
In July 2024, two corps members were injured when a bathroom wall collapsed at Ise-Emure camp. Ekiti ordered toilet construction; in September, Governor Biodun Oyebanji sought National Assembly intervention, saying rehabilitation had begun.
In 2025, the Edo coordinator appealed for intervention over inadequate hostels and training facilities and no multipurpose hall at Okada. In Oyo, more than 4,000 corps members reportedly exceeded Iseyin camp’s capacity of fewer than 3,000, with some sleeping in churches and mosques.
A rainstorm reportedly damaged Yikpata camp in April, including hostels, offices and its multipurpose hall.
In June 2026, NYSC postponed Niger’s orientation after windstorm damage. In October, its director-general reportedly considered suspending postings to Cross River over Obubra camp’s condition. The state announced relocation to Akamkpa during rehabilitation, while repair work continued at the camp.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives, in a sitting in May 2025, called for the renovation and expansion of existing camps and the construction of additional permanent facilities, citing overcrowding and inadequate accommodation.
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How NYSC spends its money
Despite the deteriorating camp facilities across several parts of the country, NYSC has not adequately funded infrastructure.
BusinessDay’s analysis of 3,319 payment records on GovSpend found that NYSC recorded payments totalling N185.17 billion between January 2022 and June 2026.
It was discovered that the payments went mainly towards corps members’ allowances, orientation exercises, state secretariats, uniforms and kits, staff salaries, feeding, insurance, training materials and equipment.
Annual payments rose from N23.18 billion in 2022 to N50.72 billion in 2023 before falling to N48.86 billion in 2024 and N44.12 billion in 2025. By June 2026, recorded payments stood at N18.29 billion.
The largest spending categories were corps members’ allowances (N71.18bn), orientation operations and state remittances (N56.27bn), and uniforms and kits (N28.74bn).
Our correspondent observed that only about N635 million was explicitly identifiable as infrastructure, construction and repairs in the payments recorded.
Experts seek overhaul of NYSC camp funding
Stakeholders in the education sector have maintained that addressing the accommodation challenges facing NYSC orientation camps requires more than increased budgetary allocations.
They argued that the structure of funding, transparency in project execution and accountability for infrastructure spending are equally important.
The experts stressed that NYSC’s heavy spending on personnel and overhead, compared with its relatively small capital allocation, leaves insufficient funds to build new facilities and rehabilitate existing camps.
They warned that without transparent tracking of projects and independent verification of their completion, increased budgetary allocations may not translate into better accommodation and essential camp facilities.
Nelson Ayodele, chief executive officer and managing consultant of Standard Mandate International, said NYSC’s funding structure was inadequate for its infrastructure needs because recurrent expenditure, including allowances, feeding, kits and logistics, accounted for a much larger share of the budget than capital spending.
He said the limited capital provision was further spread across the scheme’s 37 camps, making it difficult to undertake meaningful expansion and rehabilitation.
While arguing that capital funding should be ring-fenced and costed for individual camps to address overcrowding and deteriorating facilities, Ayodele said, “You cannot expand and rehabilitate orientation camps on a residual budget.”
He recommended an independent audit of all 37 camps to establish their bed capacity and assess water supply, sanitation, clinics and electricity against national minimum standards.
He also proposed a dedicated NYSC Infrastructure Fund jointly financed by federal and state governments.
On accountability, Ayodele called for every capital project to identify its location, cost, contractor and completion status, rather than being captured under broad budget headings.
He stressed that subsequent funding releases should depend on independent verification of completed projects, while state governments should publish their annual camp rehabilitation spending.
“The problem is not only funding, but it is also structure, transparency and follow-through,” he said.
Meanwhile, efforts to reach NYSC for comment proved abortive.
BusinessDay contacted Caroline Embu, the NYSC Director of Information and Public Relations, for comment. However, she did not answer calls or respond to messages sent to her phone and WhatsApp lines at the time the report was filed.
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