SERAP Seeks Probe Of Governors For ‘Misuse Of Security Votes’

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to probe the misuse of security votes by the 36 governors.

It also urged the President to direct the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Justice Minister Abubakar Malami (SAN) and appropriate anti-corruption agencies to promptly and thoroughly investigate allegations of systemic mismanagement of security votes by the governors since 1999.

The request was contained in a letter, dated January 1, 2022, by SERAP Deputy Director Kolawole Oluwadare.

The organisation urged the President to instruct the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to jointly track and monitor spending of security votes by the 36 governors.

The letter reads: “Ending impunity for allegations of corruption in the spending of security votes and recovering any mismanaged public funds are matters of public interest.

“As revealed by a recent report by Transparency International (TI), most of the funds appropriated as security votes are spent on political activities, mismanaged or simply stolen. It is estimated that security votes add up to over N241.2 billion every year.”

“On top of appropriated security votes, state governments also receive millions of dollars yearly as international security assistance.

“Longstanding allegations of corruption and mismanagement of security votes have hugely contributed to the growing insecurity in the country, and the failure of authorities to effectively discharge their constitutional responsibility to ensure the security and welfare of their own people.”