The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against the governors of Nigeria’s 36 states and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr. Nyesom Wike, over their alleged failure to account for the spending of billions of naira allocated as “security votes” since May 29, 2023.
The legal action comes amid renewed outrage over worsening insecurity across the country, including the recent Benue massacre and persistent violence in several states and the FCT, despite over N400 billion reportedly budgeted annually for security votes. Reports indicate that 10 governors alone earmarked about N140 billion for security votes in the 2026 budget.
In the suit filed last Friday at the Federal High Court in Abuja, SERAP is asking the court to compel the governors and the FCT minister to publicly disclose detailed records of how security votes have been spent since the current administration took office.
Specifically, the organisation wants the court to order the defendants to provide comprehensive reports on the allocation and utilisation of the funds, including implementation and completion reports, as well as any plans to strengthen security infrastructure in their respective states and the FCT.
SERAP, through its lawyers Oluwakemi Agunbiade, Andrew Nwankwo and Valentina Adegoke, argued that Nigerians have a constitutional right to know how public funds, particularly those meant to safeguard lives and property, are being spent.
“The escalating insecurity in several states and the FCT is taking a devastating toll on socially and economically vulnerable Nigerians, driving extreme poverty, worsening hunger and leading to grave human rights violations,” the organisation said.
It further alleged that many governors and the FCT minister have failed to effectively discharge their constitutional responsibility to protect lives and property, noting that the framers of the 1999 Constitution never envisaged secretive or opaque spending of public funds under the guise of security votes.
According to the suit, the lack of transparency surrounding security votes poses a significant risk of embezzlement, misappropriation and diversion of public funds.
“Despite the billions of naira budgeted yearly as security votes, many governors and FCT ministers are grossly failing to guarantee the security and welfare of the Nigerian people, contrary to Section 14(2)(b) of the Constitution,” SERAP stated.
The group argued that compelling public officials to account for security vote expenditures would foster transparency, strengthen public trust, and enable Nigerians to engage meaningfully in discussions about the country’s security challenges and government responses.
SERAP also described the long-standing secrecy and weak oversight of security votes as a major contributor to large-scale corruption, stressing that failure to account for the funds violates the Constitution, anti-corruption laws, and Nigeria’s international human rights obligations.
As of the time of filing this report, no hearing date has been fixed for the suit.