Independent Corrupt Practices And Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has said that Nigeria needed to have parameters for appropriating and accounting for security votes without jeopardising national security.

Chairman ICPC, Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, said this at the Quarterly Policy Dialogue on Accountability for Security Votes organised by the Anti-Corruption Academy of Nigeria (ACAN), the training arm of the ICPC, in Abuja on Wednesday.

Security vote is a monthly allowance that is allocated to the 36 states for the sole purpose of funding security services within such states and it runs into billions of Naira based on the level of security required by the individual state

The chairman said there should be mechanisms that would ensure that secrecy did not void accountability in the issue of security votes in the country.

Owasanoye said this was necessary because accountability was key to diminishing corruption which is important to national security and development.

He explained that security votes was an easy and attractive route for stealing public funds and a veritable avenue for abuse of public trust and escalation of poverty.

“In other words, the permission of appropriation for security votes has ironically pushed up rather than diminish insecurity.

“This is because money that should ordinarily be available for social and economic development is appropriated as security votes and used discretionarily.

“The 2019 Budget as appropriately by law, 162 Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) had monies appropriated as security votes. The MDAs include Boards, Committees, National Parks, among others,” Owasanoye said.

He said that the number and categories of MDAs given security votes suggested that something was wrong with the parameters for determining the agencies entitled to security votes.

The chairman explained that it was clear from the current approach to budgeting for security votes that no principle was being followed.

“This is clear from the quantum and range of sums appropriated in the 2019 budget for MDAs where the lowest amount for security votes was N3,600 while the highest amount was N4.20 billion.”

He said that there was a lacuna in the budgeting process and lack of guiding principles on security votes.

“Furthermore, there is the erroneous impression that security votes are not to be accounted for.”

The chairman called on stakeholders to close the gaps that facilitated corruption and also called for the prevention of the menace.

He said that the dialogue was part of effort geared toward implementation of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy.

The strategy aimed among others to eradicate electoral corruption.

Earlier, the Provost of the academy, Prof. Sola Akinrinade, said that the Policy Dialogue series were designed to bring topical Anti-Corruption issues to the fore of national discourse.

He said that the abuse of security votes constituted major threats to the security of the Nation.

Akinrinade said that preventive and educational measures in the fight against corruption were crucial to achieving a corruption free society on a long-term sustainable basis.

In a goodwill message, Chairman Senate Committee on Anti-Corruption, Financial Crimes, Sen. Suleiman Kwari, said that the dialogue series was critical to national development.

Kwari, who was represented by his vice, Sen. Aliyu Wamakko, called on all Nigerians to get involved in the fight against corruption.