According to report reaching oyogist.com, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), has reportedly called on the Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari, along with the 36 state governors to reveal core details of the proposed ‘security votes’ in their 2021 appropriation bills.
This was made known by the Organization while making a Fol request which was dated December 26th, 2020, and signed by SERAP Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare.
The request reads; “In the wake of the abduction of over 300 students from the Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina State, and ongoing security challenges in several parts of the country, the time has come to demonstrate transparency and accountability in the spending of public funds meant to secure people’s lives and property.
“Disclosing details of spending as security votes for 2021 would serve to engage the Nigerian people in an honest conversation about the security challenges confronting the country, and what the federal and state governments are doing to respond to them. This is a legitimate public interest matter.
“While SERAP understands that authorities may keep certain matters of operational secrets from the people in the name of national security, there is no constitutional or legal basis to hide basic information on public spending from the people.
SERAP also made known it “concerns that the intense secrecy and lack of meaningful oversight of the government’s spending of security votes have for many years contributed to mismanagement and large-scale corruption in the sector, as well as limited the ability of the people to hold high-ranking public officials to account for their constitutional responsibility to ensure the security and welfare of the people.”
