The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has dragged state governors and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, before the Federal High Court in Abuja over their alleged refusal to account for billions of naira spent annually as security votes, amid worsening insecurity across the country.
In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/95/2026, filed last Friday, SERAP is asking the court to compel the governors and the FCT minister to publicly disclose how security votes collected since May 29, 2023, have been spent, including details of projects funded, their implementation status and completion, as well as concrete plans to strengthen security infrastructure nationwide.
The rights group said its action was prompted by persistent violent attacks, mass killings and kidnappings across several states and the FCT, despite huge sums voted yearly for security purposes.
SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, in a statement on Sunday, said Nigerians deserved to know how public funds meant to protect lives and property were being utilised.
“Nigerians ought to know in what manner public funds, including security votes meant to ensure the security of life and property, are spent by the governors and the FCT minister,” the organisation said.
According to SERAP, over ₦400bn is budgeted annually as security votes nationwide, while no fewer than 10 governors reportedly earmarked about ₦140bn for the same purpose in the 2026 budget year.
The group warned that escalating insecurity was exacting a devastating toll on vulnerable Nigerians, deepening poverty, hunger and human rights abuses.
“The escalating insecurity in several states and the FCT is taking a devastating toll on socially and economically vulnerable Nigerians,” SERAP said, adding that many governors and the FCT minister had failed to effectively discharge their constitutional responsibility to protect lives and property.
SERAP argued that the Nigerian Constitution does not support secretive spending of public funds and that democracy demands transparency and accountability.
“The framers of the Nigerian Constitution never contemplated opaque spending of public funds as security votes,” it said, stressing that citizens’ right to information strengthens democratic governance and public trust.
The organisation’s lawyers — Oluwakemi Agunbiade, Andrew Nwankwo and Valentina Adegoke — told the court that secrecy around security votes heightened the risk of embezzlement, diversion and misappropriation of public funds.
“There is a significant risk of embezzlement, misappropriation or diversion of public funds collected by the states and FCT as security votes,” SERAP argued, adding that years of secrecy had weakened public oversight and allowed officials to evade scrutiny over their handling of security responsibilities.
SERAP also cited a landmark Supreme Court judgment affirming that the Freedom of Information Act applies to public records across the federation, including records on security votes held by state governments and the FCT.
“With the judgment, governors can no longer hide under the unfounded claim that the Freedom of Information Act does not apply to them,” the group stated, adding that while operational details may be protected for national security reasons, there was no legal basis for withholding basic information on public spending.
The organisation further referenced the World Bank’s recent classification of Nigeria as an economy in fragile and conflict-affected situations, linking rising insecurity to extreme poverty, food insecurity and weak state capacity.
According to SERAP, the Bank warned that millions of Nigerians were experiencing acute food insecurity, while severe gaps in education and health continued to undermine human development.
“The failure by state governors and the FCT minister to disclose and account for the spending of security votes is a grave violation of public trust,” the group said, stressing that treating such funds as personal entitlements was contrary to constitutional and international standards.
No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.
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