A prominent civil rights organisation has filed a Federal High Court suit in Abuja seeking an order to compel Nigeria’s state governors and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, to publicly disclose how billions of naira in security votes have been spent since May 29, 2023. The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) argues in its legal filing that the long-standing secrecy around security vote expenditures despite more than N400 billion budgeted annually has failed to translate into improved security outcomes for Nigerians, even as violent incidents like the Benue massacre and widespread insecurity persist. SERAP’s suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/95/2026, asks the court to mandate detailed accounting of allocations, spending breakdowns, implementation and completion reports, as well as concrete plans for improving security infrastructure in the states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The organisation contends that transparency around these funds is essential to uphold public trust and constitutional principles of accountability, noting that the escalating insecurity has compounded extreme poverty, hunger and human rights abuses. SERAP also references a Supreme Court affirmation of the Freedom of Information Act’s applicability to states and the FCT, underscoring that security votes should not be exempt from public scrutiny. No hearing date has yet been set for the case, which legal observers say could test longstanding practices of opaque governance in subnational security budgeting.
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