As insecurity worsens across Nigeria, ballooning security votes allocated to all the 36 state governors, politicians and some stakeholders in the security sector under the guise of tackling different conflicts and killings rocking the length and breadth of the country have been called to question by a report of the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) released in December, 2021.
The report titled: “20 Years of Anti-Corruption Efforts in Nigeria: A Critical Look”, obtained by Daily Trust on Sunday, specifically disclosed that some governors and some Nigerian elite have enriched themselves through security sector corruption.
Part of the report reads, “Over the last 20 years, governors’ corruption prone, ad hoc security spending has increased to over N208.8bn ($580m) annually.
“Likewise, federal officials’ access to security votes has also risen sharply, growing from about 30 such funds in 2016 (worth N9.3bn or $46.2m in total) to over 190 (then worth N18.4bn or $51m in total) in 2018.”
The centre said those that were supposed to pull forces together to see the end of the carnage were seeing perpetual conflicts as more lucrative than peace.
It said major anti-corruption agencies like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) and Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) had been made lame ducks by the powers that be, including the presidency.
When contacted to comment on the allegation by the CDD, some of the agencies mentioned above faulted the report, while others kept mum or asked this newspaper to give them the whole report to study before responding.
CDD was established in the United Kingdom (UK) in 1997 and subsequently registered in Lagos, Nigeria, in 1999. The organisation aims to promote the values of democracy, peace and human rights in Africa, particularly in the West African Sub-Region.
Read More: https://dailytrust.com/governors-security-votes-balloon-as-insecurity-worsens-report
