Nigeria’s nation’s capital Minister, Nyesom Wike, on Monday, asked the House of Representatives to grant him the power to arbitrarily spend funds under the controversial “security vote” scheme.
The request, sources in the presidency and the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, say is ‘unsettling to say the very least’.
Abuja, Nigeria’s capital enjoys a special status and constitutionally has the President as its governor.
“Why should two people control one state security vote,” asked a bemused presidential aide to Bola Tinubu who spoke anonymously with DDM late last night.
“It borders on treason,” added a party chieftain who spoke to the online platform.
“Wike is a political aberration we have managed to tolerate up to this point and I think someone needs to remind him that this is not PDP his party and this is the FCT and not Rivers state where he once governed,” explained added the party man.
As former governor with opposition party, People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Wike chose to work for APC in the last general election.
His appointment as Minister by President Tinubu is enough as his 30 pieces of silver for working against his party, added the party chief who spoke to the online news platform.
But Wike, while appearing before the House Committee on FCT to defend the N1.1 trillion budget of his ministry, said he needs the security vote to tackle the insecurity currently ravaging the Nigerian capital.
The ‘security vote’ is a controversial subhead inserted into state and national budgets from where governors and president can draw contingency funds with little or no accountability.
More transparency advocates are convinced that the said subhead is seat of corruption in government.
“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,” Mr Wike argued with lamakers on Monday.
He had presented a 2024 Statutory budget figure of One trillion trillion,one hundred and forty-seven billion,seven hundred and eighty million, six hundred and ten thousand, two hundred and eighty-three naira N1, 147, 780, 610, 283.00 for the Territory’s total recurrent and capital expenditure as well as expected total revenue to both Chambers of the NASS, with an appeal for synergy in achieving the development of the Unity City to its envisaged status of a modern city comparable to other world capitals.