The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against all state governors and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, over their alleged failure to account for billions of naira spent as security votes since May 29, 2023.
The civil society organisation said the suit was necessitated by worsening insecurity across several states and the FCT, despite the annual allocation of vast sums of public funds for security. SERAP cited recurring reports of mass killings in Benue State and other violent incidents nationwide as evidence that the funds may not be achieving their intended purpose.
The development was disclosed in a statement announcing the lawsuit, signed by SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, and made available.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/95/2026, was filed last Friday at the Federal High Court in Abuja. In it, SERAP is asking the court to compel the governors and the FCT minister to publicly disclose details of how security votes received since May 29, 2023, have been spent.
The organisation is also seeking an order directing the defendants to provide comprehensive reports on the allocation, utilisation, implementation status and completion of projects funded through security votes. In addition, SERAP wants the court to compel the governors and the FCT minister to disclose any concrete plans to improve security infrastructure within their jurisdictions.
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According to SERAP, over N400 billion is budgeted annually as security votes across Nigeria. It further claimed that at least 10 governors earmarked about N140 billion for security votes alone in their 2026 budget proposals.
SERAP argued that Nigerians have a fundamental right to know how public funds meant to protect lives and property are utilised. “Nigerians ought to know in what manner public funds, including security votes meant to ensure the security of life and property of Nigerians, are spent by the governors and the FCT minister,” the organisation stated.
The group warned that escalating insecurity is taking a heavy toll on socially and economically vulnerable Nigerians, worsening poverty, hunger and human rights abuses. It accused many state governments and the FCT administration of failing to discharge their constitutional responsibility to safeguard lives and property effectively.
SERAP also contended that the Nigerian Constitution does not support secretive spending of public funds, stressing that transparency and accountability are core principles of democratic governance. It cited a Supreme Court judgment affirming that the Freedom of Information Act applies to public records across the federation, including records on security votes held by states and the FCT.
While acknowledging that specific operational details may be protected for national security reasons, SERAP insisted there was no legal justification for withholding basic information on public spending. The organisation warned that secrecy around security votes increases the risk of embezzlement, misappropriation and diversion of public funds.
The suit was filed on behalf of SERAP by its lawyers, Oluwakemi Agunbiade, Andrew Nwankwo and Valentina Adegoke. No date has yet been fixed for the hearing.
