Security chiefs, governors siphon N250bn annually -Transparency Int’l

Transparency International (TI) yesterday alleged that state governors and security chiefs annually siphon N250billion security votes.
Adeolu Kilanko of the Defence and Security Unit of the TI, in a report titled: “Camouflaged Cash – How Security Votes Fuel Corruption in Nigeria” presented at the zonal official launch of the security vote report in Nigeria organized by Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre ( CISLAC) in Ibadan on Wednesday, said average Nigerians see security vote as official corruption and abuse of power.
Asking for a legislation to abolish security vote, he said Transparency International estimated that the “unaccounted cash expenditures” add up over N241.2billion annually.
He said: “In just one year, these extra budgetary expenditures add up to over nine times the amount of US security assistance to Nigeria since 2012 ( $68.6m) and over twelve times the $53.5m (40million pounds) in counterterrorism support the UK promised Nigeria from 2016 to 2020 .
“Looking at it from another angle , security vote spending exceeds 70 percent of the annual budget of the Nigeria Police Force , more than the Nigerian Army’s annual budget , and more than the Nigerian Navy and Nigerian Air Force’s annual budget combined”.

Dipo Oladehinde