The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has called on President Bola Tinubu to immediately establish a presidential panel of inquiry to investigate what it described as “well-established allegations” of embezzlement, misappropriation, and diversion of security votes by state governors since May 2015.
SERAP said the President’s recent declaration of a national security emergency would remain ineffective unless governors were held accountable for how they spend billions of naira allocated for securing their states.
“In the face of growing insecurity across the country, President Tinubu must show political will by urgently holding state governors to account on their spending of billions of naira collected as security votes,” the organisation said.
According to the group, probing security vote expenditures and ensuring accountability for alleged diversions will strengthen the nationwide security strategy and improve the federal government’s ability to protect Nigerians.
SERAP argued that compelling governors to explain their spending and recovering any stolen funds would serve the public interest, stressing that security votes were never designed for political patronage or private enrichment.
In a statement signed by its Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, the group cited a Transparency International report indicating that over N241.2bn is appropriated as security votes annually, much of which is “spent on political activities, mismanaged, or simply stolen.”
It added that states also receive millions of dollars in international security assistance each year, yet insecurity continues to worsen.
“Longstanding allegations of embezzlement and diversion of security votes by state governors have hugely contributed to the failure of states to effectively discharge their constitutional responsibility to ensure the security and welfare of their people,” the statement added.
SERAP said treating security votes as personal entitlements violates the 1999 Constitution, which makes security and welfare the primary purpose of government.
The group noted that while governors enjoy immunity from arrest and prosecution while in office, they can be investigated, and such findings could form the basis for impeachment proceedings.
“With rampant cases of abduction, killings, and other violent crimes across the country, the time has come for President Tinubu to hold state governors accountable,” SERAP insisted.
