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.”
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.”
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.”
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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
SERAP is therefore seeking the following reliefs:
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.
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.