Security Votes Amidst Rising Cost Of Insecurities -By Abdu Abdullahi

For long, the contentious security votes exclusively reserved for serving presidents, governors, local government chairmen and championed by immunity have continued to trigger more questions than answers as the country drifts further into unprecedented and multifaceted insecurities.

Already, the most striking provocation of these disputing funds is that they lack an edict supporting them in Nigeria as they have been used without appropriation which by law is illegal. Lacking constitutional backing, the obnoxious funds are disbursed at the discretion of the executives and neither are the allocations subject to independent audit. Though government officials spend a meagre portion of the funds on security matters, yet they are as well a big channel for siphoning money to finance political activities and what have you.

In 2018, the Transparency International documented how the funds were outrightly embezzled and could not be legitimately accounted for. Thus, the scoreboard largely highlights that security votes have become conduit pipes for corruption. There is even an assumption that in states which are prone to devastating insecurities, the governors deliberately aggravate the ugly trend with a view to attracting more funds as security votes to enrich themselves and their cronies.

Despite their questionable attribute, finances for enforcing security have become a financial tool gifted to executives to dispense at will. While security experts are vehemently opposed to their illegality especially in the lingering insecurities that have been holding the nation as a hostage, the beneficiaries are justifying the funds disbursement. For instance, Ekiti’s Kayode Fayemi declared in March 2022 that state governments funded police more than the federal government.

But in a study entitled: ‘Legitimising Corruption in Government: Security Votes in Nigeria’, some erudite scholars from the University of Nigeria deeply lamented how sometimes, a state governor could misappropriate as much as N100 million monthly as security vote. Also, security analysts estimate that over 60 billion dollars have been wasted by Nigeria in the name of security votes for presidents, governors and local government chairmen.

Moreover, the Business Day reported in June 27, 2021 that governors, local government chairmen pocketed over 375 billion naira security votes annually. But since our ailing and decadent system legalises security votes as a form of financial shenanigans, the embattled university lecturers are still branded as ungrateful and unjingoists . However, from 1999 to date, you can make a long list of the wonders security votes would have performed if they have been harnessed into appropriate utilization.

Going by this perpetuated financial exuberance, it shows clearly that our political mentality is tilted towards the axiom that the poor the results, the more the spending; the more the insecurity, the more the security votes. Whereas the structures of security votes are consolidated without legal scrutiny, the high cost of insecurities is escalating on a daily basis. When security votes are themselves unsecured, our national security is undermined within and not outside.

Of course! There have been votes on security but the security of the commoners has continued to deteriorate at an alarming rate. We read and hear the daily killings and kidnappings of innocent and vulnerable Nigerians. We have seen cases where even the security personnel have lost their own security not to talk of the oppressed. Thus, security votes are a twin brother to fuel subsidy scam. Both are gigantic engine rooms for promoting massive fraud to enrich a few and enslave the majority.

Overtime, Nigerians en- mass have lost the security of their lives and their properties, of their social and economic well-being, of their joy and happiness, of their feelings and emotions. In the wake of perpetual anguish and pessimism, the masses are only persecuted by the high cost of insecurities. In fact, they are stripped of the garment of complete safety and security votes have failed to offer them the aegis they require as a fundamental right not as a privilege. Going by the tide of the vicissitudes of time, security is being polarized as a right to some citizens and a privilege to others.

The soaring cost of insecurities is very disastrous for our country and can no longer be condoned. We can see this in the increased number of refugees, the widowers, the orphans and the other vulnerable elements of the nation whose future is wearing a gloomy face. The high cost of insecurities is a dreaded monster which has sent farmers away from their source of livelihood as if there was no government.

The ascending cost of insecurities is a great enemy to secondary schools education in the North. Recall that some of our girls learners are still under bandits’ captivity. What will be the cost of revitalizing confidence in our boarding schools that they will be free from gunmen? What will be the estimate of renewing love and affection for the widowers and the orphans?

It has been observed that the origin of security votes dates back to the military era. Because there was high suspicious amongst the Khaki boys for the fear of coup staging and counter coup enactment, security votes were created to oversee the activities of suspected elements to avert coup plotting. Nevertheless, is it still a fiscal obligation to sustain security votes even where insecurities have been perpetually occupying a substantial space of our country?

However, good governance does not need any controversial security votes, for selfless and dynamic leadership is a security in itself. A dedicated and effective stewardship is a holistic security vote for public safety and kills the dangerous germs that breeds insecurity. It is therefore left for us to summon our collective will to install good governance at all levels or allow despicable leadership to make us prisoners in our own country.

It remains to be seen, therefore, if security votes which cannot prevent the creation of ghost towns and sacked homes will continue to narrate our financial scandals.