Court dismisses suit challenging legality of security vote

    
An Abuja Federal High Court on Tuesday struck out a suit which challenged the deduction of funds as ‘security vote’ from the statutory allocations of state governments by governors.

Justice Adamu Bello held that the court lacked the jurisdiction to determine the suit, in which the plaintiff, a human rights lawyer, Chief Nkereuwem Akpan, asked it to outlaw the culture of security vote.

Akpan had dragged the 36 state governors, as well as the minister of the Federal Capital Territory, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission before the court to challenge the legality of the security vote deductions.

The court was asked to order the EFCC and ICPC to immediately commence investigations into the security vote deductions, and prosecute the governors and the FCT minister once their immunities expire upon leaving office.


The EFCC and the ICPC had joined all the 36 state governors to oppose the suit, asking the court to dismiss it on the grounds that the plaintiff lacked the locus standi to institute the action.

But Justice Bello, who is embarking on retirement from Tuesday, December 31, in his judgment, held that the FHC had no jurisdiction over the major parties in the case – the state governments and the FCTA, who were listed as the 1st to 37th defendants.

Although he had earlier ruled that the plaintiff had the locus standi to file the suit before the court as a matter of public interest litigation, Justice Bello noted that the fact that the FHC could not adjudicate over matters involving the states, meant that the court would not go ahead to determine the legality or otherwise of security votes