Buhari
At
Freedom of Information requests has been sent to President Muhammadu
Buhari and the 36 state governors in Nigeria requesting them to use
their “good offices and leadership positions to urgently provide
information on specific details of spending of appropriated public
funds as security votes between 2011 and 2019.”
In
the separate requests sent to Mr Buhari and the governors,
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP said: “Given
the current security realities in the country, we need the
information to determine if public funds meant to provide security
and ensure respect and protection of the rights to life, physical
integrity, and liberty of Nigerians have been spent for this purpose.
Our request is limited to details of visible, specific security
measures and projects executed and does not include spending on
intelligence operations.
In
the FOI requests dated 12 April 2019 and signed by SERAP
deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare, the organization said: “’Section
14(2)(b) of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution (as amended) provides that
the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose
of government.’ It is the security of the citizens that is intended
and not the security of select individuals in public office. SERAP
believes that transparency and accountability in the spending of
security votes are critically important to fully implement this
responsibility imposed on both the federal and state governments.
SERAP
said: “We are concerned that rather than serving the citizens, the
appropriation of public funds as security votes over the years would
seem to serve high-ranking government officials at all levels—federal
and states. We are also concerned that the practice of security votes
entrusts discretionary powers to spend huge public funds on certain
elected public officials who may not have any idea of operational
issues on security matters.
The
requests read in part: “SERAP urges you to open-up on the matter
and provide information and documents as requested. This will be one
step in the right direction. Unless the information is urgently
provided, Nigerians would continue to see the appropriation of public
funds as security votes and the institutionalization of this cash in
‘Ghana Must Go bags’ practice as a tool for self-enrichment.
“We
would be grateful if the requested information is provided to us
within 7 days of the receipt and/or publication of this letter. If we
have not heard from you by then, the Registered Trustees of SERAP
shall take all appropriate legal action under the Freedom of
Information Act to compel you to comply with our request.”
“The
most general purpose of State power is to provide security for
citizens and other residents and to enable them lead a life that is
meaningful to them. However, the growing level of insecurity,
violence, kidnappings and killings in Zamfara State and other parts
of Nigeria suggest that successive governments—at both federal and
state levels—have been unwilling or unable to satisfactorily
implement this fundamental constitutional commitment.
“SERAP
believes that there is a strong link between corruption and
insecurity, violence, kidnappings and killings in several parts of
the country. Available evidence would seem to suggest that many of
the tiers of government in Nigeria have used security votes as a
conduit for grand corruption rather than spending the funds to
improve and enhance national security and ensure full protection of
Nigerians’ rights to life, physical integrity, and liberty. In
fact, former governor of Kano State Musa Kwankwaso once described
security votes as ‘another way of stealing public funds’.”
“The
huge financial resources budgeted for ‘security votes’ by
successive governments—at both federal and state levels--have not
matched the security realities, especially given the level of
insecurity, violence, kidnappings and killings in many parts of the
country. The current security realities in the country would seem to
suggest massive political use, mismanagement or stealing of security
votes by many governments.
“SERAP
believes that the Federal government and state governments ought to
push for transparency and accountability in the spending of security
votes both at the federal and state levels, if any such funds are to
be properly spent to promote and ensure sustainable peace and
security for the people of Nigeria.
“SERAP
believes that by providing the information, your government would
help put an end to any insinuation that security votes are spent on
political activities, mismanaged or stolen. This would in turn
contribute to better opportunities for citizens to assess the level
of spending and commitment of successive governments to ensuring the
security of lives and property of the people.
“Democratic
societies function best with a high level of trust. Corruption,
opacity and lack of accountability undermine that trust, and thus
undermine the very foundation of democracies.
“We
note that the obligation to provide security and protect people’s
rights to life, physical integrity, and liberty ought to be a shared
responsibility of the federal and state governments, and not just for
the federal government, as state governors also appropriate huge
public funds each year as security votes. Many governors reportedly
hide the security votes in their budgets as the funds are not
expressly stated in their appropriation acts.
“By
Sections 2(3)(d)(V) & (4) of the FOI Act, there is a binding
legal duty to ensure that details of spending on specific security
measures and projects are widely disseminated and made readily
available to members of the public through various means, including
on a dedicated website. The
information being requested does not come within the purview of the
types of information exempted from disclosure by the provisions of
the FOI Act.
“As
revealed by a 2018 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, governments also receive millions of
dollars yearly as international security assistance.
“According
to TI, security vote spending exceeds 70 percent of the annual budget
of the Nigeria Police Force, more than the Nigerian Army’s annual
budget, and more than the Nigerian Navy and Nigerian Air Force’s
annual budget combined.”
SERAP
therefore urged Mr Buhari and the governors to:Disclose including by
publishing on a dedicated website, details of spending of public
funds appropriated as security votes between 2011 to date, and
specific security measures and projects on which such funds have been
spent; Urgently put in place concrete measures to end the patently
unconstitutional, illegal and widespread appropriation of public
funds as security votes; and Establish Joint Security Trust Funds
between the federal government and the 36 state governments with
strong legal framework, oversight and auditing mechanisms, as a
permanent replacement for the illegal and unconstitutional
appropriation of public funds as security votes.
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