SERAP said this would ensure the security and welfare of Nigerians, and prevent the misuse and embezzlement of public funds in the name of security votes.
This was contained in an FoI request signed by SERAP deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare.
SERAP said in the letter said the time has come to demonstrate transparency and accountability in the spending of public funds meant to secure people’s lives and property.
It said disclosing details of spending as security votes for 2021 would serve to engage the Nigerian people in an honest conversation about the security challenges confronting the country, and what the federal and state governments are doing to respond to them.
SERAP expressed concerns that what it said is the intense secrecy and lack of meaningful oversight of the government’s spending of security votes have for many years contributed to mismanagement and large-scale corruption in the sector, as well as limited the ability of the people to hold high-ranking public officials to account for their constitutional responsibility to ensure the security and welfare of the people.
