The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against Nigeria’s 36 state governors and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Nyesom Wike, over their alleged failure to account for billions of naira allocated and spent as “security votes” since the assumption of office of the current administrations on 29 May 2023.
The suit follows renewed public outrage over worsening insecurity across the country, including the recent massacre in Benue State and persistent violent attacks, kidnappings and banditry in several states and the FCT, despite massive public funds earmarked annually for security purposes.
According to SERAP, more than N400 billion is budgeted every year nationwide as security votes, with at least 10 governors reportedly allocating about N140 billion for the same purpose in their 2026 budgets alone.
In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/95/2026, filed last Friday at the Federal High Court in Abuja, SERAP is asking the court to compel the governors and the FCT minister to publicly disclose detailed records of how security votes collected since May 29, 2023, have been spent to safeguard lives and property.
Specifically, the organisation is urging the court to order the defendants to provide comprehensive reports on the allocation, utilisation and implementation of security votes in their respective states and the FCT.
This, SERAP said, should include information on completed and ongoing security-related projects, as well as concrete plans, if any, to improve security infrastructure and outcomes.
SERAP argued that Nigerians have a fundamental right to know how public funds, particularly those earmarked for security, are utilised.
The group maintained that the persistent failure to address insecurity, despite huge financial allocations, raises serious concerns about transparency, accountability and constitutional responsibility.
According to the organisation, the escalating insecurity across the country has had devastating social and economic consequences, particularly for vulnerable populations. SERAP said the situation has contributed to rising extreme poverty, worsening hunger and widespread human rights violations.
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The group further accused several governors and the FCT minister of failing to discharge their primary constitutional duty to protect lives and property, as enshrined in Section 14(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
In its legal arguments, SERAP stated that the framers of the Nigerian Constitution never envisaged opaque or secretive spending of public funds under the guise of security votes.
It added that democratic governance is built on openness and accountability, which includes citizens’ right to access information on public expenditure.
“Citizens’ right to know promotes transparency and accountability, which are crucial for Nigeria’s democratic order,” SERAP said, warning that the lack of oversight over security votes poses a significant risk of embezzlement, misappropriation and diversion of public funds.
The suit, filed on SERAP’s behalf by its lawyers Oluwakemi Agunbiade, Andrew Nwankwo and Valentina Adegoke, argued that years of secrecy surrounding security votes have encouraged large-scale corruption and weakened the public’s ability to hold senior officials accountable for their constitutional obligations.
SERAP also contended that compelling the governors and the FCT minister to account for security vote spending would foster an honest national conversation about Nigeria’s security challenges and the effectiveness of official responses.
While acknowledging that certain operational details may legitimately be classified for national security reasons, SERAP insisted that there is no constitutional or legal justification for withholding basic information on public spending from citizens.
The organisation cited a landmark Supreme Court judgment affirming that the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act applies to all public records across the federation, including those held by state governments and the FCT.
According to SERAP, the ruling makes it clear that governors can no longer claim that the FOI Act does not apply to them.
SERAP further argued that the failure to disclose and account for security votes constitutes a grave violation of public trust, Nigeria’s anti corruption laws, constitutional provisions and the country’s international human rights and anticorruption obligations.