{"id":70316,"date":"2019-11-11T05:30:57","date_gmt":"2019-11-11T04:30:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=70316"},"modified":"2019-11-11T05:30:57","modified_gmt":"2019-11-11T04:30:57","slug":"serap-sues-buhari-nass-others-over-failure-to-account-for-security-votes-since-1999","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/serap-sues-buhari-nass-others-over-failure-to-account-for-security-votes-since-1999\/","title":{"rendered":"SERAP sues Buhari, NASS, others ‘over failure to account for security votes since 1999’"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
<\/div>\n
\n
\nSocio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a
\nlawsuit in the Federal High Court, Abuja “seeking leave to apply for
\njudicial review and an order of mandamus to direct and compel President
\nMuhammadu Buhari, Senate president Ahmed Lawan, and Speaker of the House
\nof Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila to disclose details of
\nallocations, disbursement and spending of security votes by the Federal
\nGovernment, 36 state governors and 774 local governments between 1999
\nand 2019.”<\/p>\n

The suit number FHC\/ABJ\/CS\/1369\/2019 and filed last Friday followed
\nSERAP’s Freedom of Information requests and “the respondents’ failure to
\naccount for some N241.2 billion of public funds allocated, disbursed and
\nspent yearly as security votes, and the corresponding lack of effective
\nprotection of the rights to security and welfare, life and physical
\nintegrity of millions of Nigerians.”<\/p>\n

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

According to SERAP: “Nigerians have the constitutional and international
\nhuman right to know details of the exact amounts that have been spent as
\nsecurity votes and specific areas and projects covered by the
\nallocations, disbursement and spending. There is overriding public
\ninterest in Nigerians having access to these details, and the
\nrespondents have legal obligations to facilitate public access to such
\ninformation.”<\/p>\n

SERAP also argued that: “Constitutional provisions requiring governments
\nto ensure the security and welfare of the people are intended to protect
\nthe security and safety of citizens and not the security of a few
\nindividuals in government. Without transparency and accountability, the
\nmismanagement and corruption in the allocation, disbursement and
\nspending of security votes will continue with devastating consequences.”<\/p>\n

The suit filed by SERAP’s lawyers Kolawole Oluwadare and Opeyemi Owolabi
\nread in part: “The respondents have a legal duty to proactively record,
\nkeep and disclose information in respect of allocation, disbursement and
\nspending of security votes without waiting for SERAP to request for such
\ninformation. They are also required to maintain and publish documents
\ncontaining information relating to the receipt or expenditure of public
\nfunds.”<\/p>\n

“Public officials receiving and spending security votes ought to come
\nclean with Nigerians on how exactly these public funds are spent. Unless
\nthe reliefs sought are granted, Nigerians would continue to see the
\nappropriation of public funds as security votes as a tool for
\nself-enrichment.”<\/p>\n

“The suit is seeking to offer governments at all levels an important
\nopportunity to be transparent and accountable with the exercise of their
\ndiscretionary powers in the allocation, disbursement and spending of
\nsecurity votes. The public interest in the disclosure of these details
\noutweighs any private interest the respondents may be seeking to
\nprotect.”<\/p>\n

“The right to know allows Nigerians to gain access to information
\nessential to the fight against corruption, which is entirely consistent
\nwith the government’s own anti-corruption strategy to encourage
\ncitizens’ involvement in the fight against corruption. Access to
\ninformation on details of security votes will ultimately foster
\nsecurity, sustainable peace, and development of democratic institutions
\nacross the country.”<\/p>\n

“Public officers are mere custodians of public records. The citizens are
\nentitled to know how their commonwealth is being utilized, managed and
\nadministered in a democratic setting, as this positively influences the
\nfeeling of belonging in the society.”<\/p>\n

“The huge financial resources budgeted for security votes by successive
\ngovernments have not matched the security realities in the country,
\nespecially given the level of insecurity, violence, kidnappings and
\nkillings in many parts of the country, which seem to suggest massive
\npolitical use, mismanagement or stealing of security votes by many
\ngovernments.”<\/p>\n

“As revealed by a 2018 report by Transparency International (TI), most
\nof the funds appropriated as security votes are spent on political
\nactivities, mismanaged or simply stolen. It is estimated that security
\nvotes add up to over N241.2 billion every year. On top of appropriated
\nsecurity votes, governments also receive millions of dollars yearly as
\ninternational security assistance.”<\/p>\n

SERAP is therefore seeking the following reliefs:<\/p>\n

A DECLARATION that the failure of the Respondents to provide the
\nApplicant with specific information on details of the expenditure,
\nnon-planned extra-budgetary spending on “Security” (otherwise referred
\nto as ‘Security Votes’) allocated and disbursed to the Federal
\nGovernment of Nigeria, 36 States of the Federation and 774 local
\ngovernments in Nigeria for the periods covering between 1999 and 2019 is
\nillegal and constitutes a breach of the Applicant’s rights under the
\nFreedom of Information Act, 2011.<\/p>\n

AN ORDER OF MANDAMUS directing and\/or compelling the Respondents to
\nurgently compile and provide the Applicant with specific information on
\ndetails of the expenditure, non-planned extra-budgetary spending on
\n“Security” (otherwise referred to as ‘Security Votes’) by the Federal
\nGovernment of Nigeria, 36 States of the Federation and 774 local
\ngovernments in Nigeria for the periods covering between 1999 and 2019.<\/p>\n

AND for such further order(s) this Honourable Court may deem fit to make
\nin the circumstances.<\/p>\n

No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19332,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\nSERAP sues Buhari, NASS, others 'over failure to account for security votes since 1999' - Pointblank News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/serap-sues-buhari-nass-others-over-failure-to-account-for-security-votes-since-1999\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"SERAP sues Buhari, NASS, others 'over failure to account for security votes since 1999' - 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