Insecurity: 36 Govs under fire over 375 billion of safety votes

… Get 7 days ultimatum

Between a growing insecurity and a worsening of public trust, the project of socio-economic rights and responsibilities (Serap) has requested that all 36 state governors in Nigeria reveal how they spent awarded public funds as “security votes” since 29 May 2023-o deal with legal action.

The call was made in a letter from Freedom of Information (FOI) dated June 28 and signed by the deputy director of Serap, Kolawole Oluwadare. The organization warned that the inability to respond within seven days would unleash adequate legal passages to force responsibility.

According to Serap, the growing insecurity throughout Nigeria, including Benue’s recent massacre, has made it indispensable for governors to explain transparently how the security votes – billions of Naira provided every year – are used.

“In the wake of the massacre of Benue and of the in progress in different states, there is a legitimate public interest in knowing how these funds are spent,” Serap said in a press release on Sunday.

The group has accused many governors of mistreatment or of not having effectively used funds, claiming that their actions contravene section 14 (2) (b) of the 1999 Constitution which requires the government to guarantee the safety and well -being of people.

“Despite the vast sums assigned under the pretext of security, the governors have not managed to provide safety and stability to their states,” said the group.

The security votes are funds assigned to governors and some federal officials, apparently to deal with security challenges without going through the usual public accounting procedures. The critics, however, described them as mud funds due to the lack of supervision.

Citing the reports of 2021, Serap observed that the state governors and the presidents of the local council would receive over 375 billion of security votes, with little to be shown in terms of better security results.

The organization also referred to a sentence of the Supreme Court which clarified that the Freedom of Information Act applies to all levels of government, including state governors. Serap warned that the inability to disseminate the details of the expenses would be equivalent to a “serious violation of public trust” and a violation of anti -corruption laws.

“The intense secrecy and the lack of a significant supervision of the expenditure of the security votes by the governors have contributed for many years to the large -scale theft of public funds,” added the note.

The letter invited governors to invite the commission for economic and financial crimes (EFCC) and independent corrupt practices and other related crimes (ICPC) to investigate and monitor the costs related to safety.

Serap also referred to the recent classification of Nigeria by the World Bank as a “fragile and conflict country” -alteo Afghanistan, Sudan and Mali-Che affects corruption, bad management and insecurity for the terrible economic and humanitarian crises of the nation.

By reiterating his legal promptness, Serap said: “The judgment sends a powerful message that governors can no longer escape responsibility for the way they spend the security votes. We urge all governors to respect promptly and support the rule of law”.

The Times platform reports that this move could trigger a new pressure wave on state governments to end the long -standing culture of opacity in public finance on the pretext of security.

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