Transparency International on Wednesday disclosed how over N241billion is being siphoned from Nigeria’s treasury annually, using the security votes as a conduit pipe to divert public funds. The Antigraft organisation also said top security chiefs and state governors create insecurity in different parts of the country to use security Votes.
Mr Adeolu Kilanko, of the Transparency International Defence and Security Unit disclosed this via a report titled: “Camouflaged Cash – How Security Votes Fuel Corruption in Nigeria” presented at the Zonal official launch of the report in Nigeria organized by Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre in Ibadan.
He stated that among average Nigerians, the words ‘security votes’ are synonymous with official corruption and abuse of power. Asking for a legislation to abolish security vote, he stated that Transparency International estimated that these secretive and unaccounted-for-cash expenditures add up to over N241.2billion annually.