‘Security Vote is Corruption Personified, it should be Scrapped’
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A human rights activist and member of the Ekiti State Judicial Commission, Mr. Kabir Akingbolu, has advised the Federal Government to scrap the giving of security votes to State Governments.
Akingbolu, who described the issue of security votes to Governors as corruption personified, said despite several millions of Naira being received by State Governors monthly as security vote, insecurity has been worsening day by day in the country.
Speaking on the state of the nation recently with selected journalists, the Lawyer said given the pace of increase in insecurity across the country, there is no longer any justification for Governors to continue to receive security votes.
“Now, the most dangerous trend about the whole issue, is that each Governor will determine his own security vote. Where do you see any country being run that way?
“It is the State Governor that will determine how much he wants to collect on a monthly basis, and when either the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) or Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) want to beam their searchlight on State finances, nobody talks about security vote.
“The least a State Governor collects as security vote in Nigeria at the moment, is N300 million per month. As poor as Ekiti is under Fayose, it was getting N350 million monthly. That tells you that, some other States can be collecting as high as N900 million per month.
“So, when you look at some of these issues, you will begin to ask questions about, who is deceiving who in this country? What the Governors normally do each time they collect the security vote, is that they will just give a small part of it to the Commissioner of Police, and pocket the rest. They don’t do anything with it.
“No government in Nigeria has ever come out to disclose how security vote was expended, and questions are never asked by those who are expected to do so”, he said.
Akingbolu also lashed out on the way the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government, is fighting corruption.
“Before we even go to the issue of corruption associated with security votes, generally, we must ask ourselves, is the government of the day truly fighting corruption? How many cases has the EFCC won?
“We see the greatest of all offenders, escaping justice. We have seen someone who was convicted of stealing money running into several billions of Naira, that was given an option of paying a N750, 000 fine.
“You say you are fighting corruption, your language suggests it, but your body language abhors it. A lot of people were in government, and accusing fingers were pointing in their direction. Nothing has happened to them, to date.
“If these individuals were not questioned, how can the Buhari’s government convince people that it is fighting corruption? I don’t see government fighting any corruption, at all”, he added.
On whether creation of State Police is a solution to the present insecurity across the country, Akingbolu said: “I don’t think Nigeria is mature for State Police. I want to liken the creation of State Police, to what is happening with the States Independent Electoral Commission (SIECs)”.
“From the time SIECs have been conducting local government elections, have your heard of when an opposition party is declared a winner anywhere? The SIECs are under the firm control of State Governors, and that is why each time local government elections are held in any State, it is the Governors’ parties that prevail.
“So, if State Police is created in Nigeria, the problem will be that another department of State Government will be created, and this will be used to witch-hunt the opposition. I don’t think we are mature enough to operate State Police.
“What I think we should do, is to examine the challenges that are making the existing police structure ineffective. One way of doing this, is to ensure that what is due to every State Command, goes directly to their respective Commissioner of Police.
“This will address the issue of paucity of funds at each Command, and better position the officers to render quality services to the people. I believe with all this, we will have some sanity in the system.
“The solution to insecurity problems does not lie in creation of State Police, but making the one in existence to work effectively”, he said.
On what to expect as a member of the Ekiti State Judicial Commission, Akingbolu said, “we are trying to make Ekiti State a model. In essence, we want to see a Judiciary that does things differently. For instance, we want to look at the length of time spent in prosecuting cases, and ensure that this is done at a faster pace. We now have the Ekiti State Civil Procedure Law, and efforts are on to also reposition the Ministry of Justice”.