Human rights group Socio-Economic Rights and accountability Project (SERAP) is seeking an answer and has sued President Buhari, Senate President Ahmed Lawan, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, asking the Federal judicature to get them organized to disclose details of allocations.
The group desires info on disbursement and payment of security votes by the national, thirty six state governors and 774 local governments between 1999 and 2019.
The suit variety FHC/ABJ/CS/1369/2019, filed last Friday followed SERAP’s Freedom of information requests and “the respondents’ failure to account for some N241.2 billion of public funds allotted, disbursed and spent yearly as security votes, and therefore the corresponding lack of effective protection of the rights to security and welfare, life and physical integrity of millions of Nigerians.”
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Others joined as parties within the suit are: Mr Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the financial organization of Nigeria (CBN), man Ahmed Idris, controller General of the Federation and man Anthony Ayine, Auditor General for the Federation. consistent with SERAP: “Nigerians have the constitutional and international right to grasp details of the precise amounts that are spent as security votes and specific areas and comes lined by the allocations, disbursement and payment.
there’s predominate public interest in Nigerians having access to those details, and therefore the respondents have legal obligations to facilitate public access to such info.”
“Constitutional provisions requiring governments to make sure the protection and welfare of the people are supposed to guard the protection and safety of voters and not the protection of some people in government.
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while not transparency and responsibleness, the direction and corruption within the allocation, disbursement and payment of security votes can continue with devastating consequences.”
The suit filed by SERAP’s lawyers Kolawole Oluwadare and Opeyemi Owolabi browse in part: “The respondents have a responsibility to proactively record, keep and disclose info in respect of allocation, disbursement and payment of security votes while not looking ahead to SERAP to request for such info. they’re additionally needed to keep up and publish documents containing info regarding the receipt or expenditure of public funds.”
“Public officers receiving and spending security votes have to be compelled to return clean with Nigerians on however precisely these public funds area unit spent. Unless the reliefs sought-after area unit granted, Nigerians would still see the appropriation of public funds as security votes as a tool for self-enrichment.”
“The suit is seeking to supply governments in the slightest degree levels a crucial chance to be clear and responsible with the exercise of their discretionary powers within the allocation, disbursement and payment of security votes. the general public interest within the revealing of those details outweighs any non-public interest the respondents could also be seeking to guard.”
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“The large financial resources budgeted for security votes by ordered governments haven’t matched the protection realities within the country, particularly given the amount of insecurity, violence, kidnappings and killings in several parts of the country, that appear to recommend large political use, direction or stealing of security votes by several governments.”
“As unconcealed by a 2018 report by Transparency International (TI), most of the funds taken as security votes area unit spent on political activities, mismanaged or just taken. it’s calculable that security votes add up to over N241.2 billion each year. On high of appropriated security votes, governments additionally receive several greenbacks yearly as international security help.”
No date has been mounted for the hearing of the suit.
