Politiscope:Towards wholeheartedly tackling the menace of corruption

It doesn’t take rocket science to identify corruption as the major bane of governance in Nigeria. This is particularly evident in the way high-ranking officials enrich themselves through cunning means by appropriating huge salaries, bonuses and allowances to themselves. This is very disconcerting in a country where two-thirds of the population live under or around $1.25 daily- in abject poverty. At the moment, each member takes a monthly salary of around N900,000, excluding a quarterly allowance (running cost) of about N27.9m.
Senators take a slightly higher salary and quarterly allocation

Recently, against the backdrop of the public outrage targeted at the members of the Upper and Lower Legislative arms, the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission has pledged to review downward the salaries and allowances of members of the National Assembly. To this effect, a new pay package, reflecting cuts in the remuneration of public service officers would be released this month. Many people see this as a welcome development.

However, the general public shouldn’t relent on their efforts just yet. There is something just as obnoxious that needs to be tackled. It is the issue of security votes.

The security vote is a concept that is increasingly gaining currency (and notoriety) in setting aside huge sums of money, under the guise of enhancing state security. The idea of handing millions of naira to unaccountable politicians, in the name of addressing security problems, is a recipe for pervasive corruption.

The tendency among Nigerian politicians, particularly the executive arm at the various levels of government, to manipulate security issues for political and economic gains is widespread. This has been fuelled by the abuse of security votes, an ‘opaque fund’ reserved for the executive which is not appropriated, accounted for or audited through the legislature. Sometimes, a state governor could (mis)appropriate as much as N100 million monthly as ‘security vote’. Such slush funds are channeled into the secret funding of militias and gangs of government ‘enforcers.’

The security vote has therefore become a conduit for siphoning funds that is far removed from scrutiny. It is more like the ‘miscellaneous expenses’ term- extremely vague but above questioning.

We as concerned citizens must clamour for a constitutional amendment that would strip these public officials of this blanket authorization to misuse state funds in the name of security. The pocketing of public funds has never been easier, or more primitive. It’s about time that pressure groups rose up to insist that this scam be abolished.
Just as it is so named, the security vote is meant for security agencies constitutionally charged with securing public safety and national
security. If a President and governors are to spend security votes, they must be accountable for every dime spent.