<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP)
has filed a lawsuit in the Federal High Court, Abuja “seeking leave to apply
for judicial review and an order of mandamus to direct and compel President
Muhammadu Buhari, Senate president Ahmed Lawan, and Speaker of the House of
Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila to disclose details of allocations,
disbursement and spending of security votes by the Federal Government, 36 state
governors and 774 local governments between 1999 and 2019.”</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/1369/2019 and filed last Friday followed SERAP’s Freedom of Information requests and “the respondents’ failure to account for some N241.2 billion 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.” 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. According to SERAP: “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 class="wp-block-paragraph"> ;SERAP also argued that: “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
mismanagement and corruption in the allocation, disbursement and spending of
security votes will continue with devastating consequences.”</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"> ;The suit filed by SERAP’s lawyers Kolawole
Oluwadare and Opeyemi Owolabi read in part: “The respondents have a legal duty
to proactively record, keep and disclose information in respect of allocation,
disbursement and spending of security votes without waiting for SERAP to
request for such information. They are also required to maintain and publish
documents containing information relating to the receipt or expenditure of
public funds.”</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"> ;“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.”</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"> ;“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 class="wp-block-paragraph"> ;“The right to know allows Nigerians to gain access
to information essential to the fight against corruption, which is entirely
consistent with the government’s own anti-corruption strategy to encourage
citizens’ involvement in the fight against corruption. Access to information on
details of security votes will ultimately foster security, sustainable peace,
and development of democratic institutions across the country.”</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"> ;“Public officers are mere custodians of public
records. The citizens are entitled to know how their commonwealth is being
utilized, managed and administered in a democratic setting, as this positively
influences the feeling of belonging in the society.”</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"> “The huge financial resources budgeted for security votes by successive governments have not matched the security realities in the country, especially given the level of insecurity, violence, kidnappings and killings in many parts of the country, which seem to suggest massive political use, mismanagement or stealing of security votes by many governments.” “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>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong> SERAP is therefore seeking the following reliefs:</strong></p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"> ;A DECLARATION ;that the failure of the
Respondents to provide the Applicant with specific information on details of
the expenditure, non-planned extra-budgetary spending on “Security” (otherwise
referred to as ‘Security Votes’) allocated and disbursed to the Federal Government
of Nigeria, 36 States of the Federation and 774 local governments in Nigeria
for the periods covering between 1999 and 2019 is illegal and constitutes a
breach of the Applicant’s rights under the Freedom of Information Act, 2011.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"> AN ORDER OF MANDAMUS directing and/or compelling the Respondents to urgently compile and provide the Applicant with specific information on details of the expenditure, non-planned extra-budgetary spending on “Security” (otherwise referred to as ‘Security Votes’) by the Federal Government of Nigeria, 36 States of the Federation and 774 local governments in Nigeria for the periods covering between 1999 and 2019. And for such further order(s) this Honourable Court may deem fit to make in the circumstances. No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.</p>

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