<p>A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Monday,
Novemeber 25,  ;granted leave to the
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) in a suit
against ;President Muhammadu Buhari, Senate president Ahmed Lawan, and
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila “over the failure to
disclose details of allocations, disbursement and spending of an estimated
N241.2 billion yearly as security votes between 1999 and 2019.”</p>



<p>Others joined as parties in the suit are: Mr Godwin
Emefiele, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Ahmed Idris,
Accountant General of the Federation and Mr Anthony Ayine, Auditor General for
the Federation. ;</p>



<p>Justice Ahmed Ramat ;<a>Mohammed</a>,
who gave the ruling following the hearing of an argument on ex parte motion by
SERAP’s counsel, Opeyemi Owolabi, expressed satisfaction that the leave ought
to be granted and adjourned the motion on notice to December 10, 2019, for
hearing.</p>



<p>Justice Mohammed ruled that hearing notices be issued and
served on all the respondents within 8 days. ;The order by Justice ;Mohammed ;has now cleared
the way for SERAP to advance its case against the respondents and to challenge
their refusal to account for the allocations, disbursement and spending of
security votes by the Federal Government, 36 state governors and 774 local
governments between 1999 and 2019.”</p>



<p>In the suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/1369/2019, SERAP is
applying for judicial review and an order of mandamus directing and compelling
the President Buhari, Mr Lawan, and Mr Gbajabiamila to disclose details of
spending of budgetary allocations as security votes since 1999. ;The suit followed SERAP’s Freedom of Information requests
and “the respondents’ failure to account for some ;<a>N241.2
billion ;</a>of public funds allocated, disbursed and spent yearly as
security votes, and the corresponding lack of effective protection of the
rights to security and welfare, life and physical integrity of millions of
Nigerians.”</p>



<p>The suit read in part: ;“Nigerians have the
constitutional and international human right to know details of the exact
amounts that have been spent as security votes and specific areas and projects
covered by the allocations, disbursement and spending. There is overriding
public interest in Nigerians having access to these details, and the
respondents have legal obligations to facilitate public access to such
information.”</p>



<p>“Constitutional provisions requiring governments to
ensure the security and welfare of the people are intended to protect the
security and safety of citizens and not the security of a few individuals in
government. Without transparency and accountability, the mis-management and
corruption in the allocation, disbursement and spending of security votes will
continue with devastating consequences.”</p>



<p>“Public officials receiving and spending security votes ought to come clean with Nigerians on how exactly these public funds are spent. Unless the reliefs sought are granted, Nigerians would continue to see the appropriation of public funds as security votes as a tool for self-enrichment. The suit is seeking to offer governments at all levels an important opportunity to be transparent and accountable with the exercise of their discretionary powers in the allocation, disbursement and spending of security votes. The public interest in the disclosure of these details outweighs any private interest the respondents may be seeking to protect.”</p>



<p>“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.”</p>

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