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Wike to Reps: Grant me power to spend security votes like governors

FCT minister, Nyesom Wike has approached the House of Representatives to seek constitutional powers to spend the security vote of the nation’s capital.

Wike’s request comes following several high profile kidnappings and attacks on communities in Nigeria’s capital city.

While the House Committee on FCT on Monday to defend the N1.1 trillion budget of his ministry, Wike said he needs the security vote to confront the insecurity currently ravaging the Nigerian capital.

The security vote is a controversial and corruption-ridden scheme often used by state governors to spend money arbitrarily without any form of transparency.

Civil society groups have long argued that the security vote has become a conduit for siphoning funds.

But Wike thinks differently.

“As a governor, my director of SSS can meet me and say ‘We need to carry out an operation this night’. We need N30 million to carry out that operation. I don’t need to meet the accountant, all I need to say is ‘go and take money there,” told the lawmakers.

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