Some Nigerian governors use insecurity as excuse to loot state funds – EFCC

The Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, has alleged that some state governors use insecurity as an excuse to steal public funds.

Mr Magu said this while making a presentation on corruption, on Tuesday, at the induction ceremony organised by the Nigerian Governors Forum in Abuja for newly-elected governors.

He said the climate of insecurity and terrorism promotes corruption in Nigeria and some “state governors are cashing in” on the development.

“…We also have evidence of theft by some state governors cashing in on the insecurity in their states. In fact, there are speculations in some quotas that some governors conversely promote insecurity in their state to inflate their security votes,” the EFCC boss said.

“I am not going to enter deeply into the debate on security votes. What is important is that what is expected of governors as chief security officers of the state is to be cautious and transparent in utilising public funds.”

Security votes are state funds governors use to tackle security challenges in their states. It has been criticised as fuelling corruption since the amounts are never made public and not accounted for.

– Premium Times