The idea of “security votes” is said to be rooted in a facet of America’s diplomatic practice. Each year, the U.S. Congress approves a budget for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) that is devoted to espionage and other covert operations. Owing to the surreptitious nature of its assignments, the intelligence agency does not publicly account for its budgetary earmarks. It only briefs a select committee of Congressmen whose members are sworn to secrecy.

From that understandable idea mutated the Nigerian distortion of entrusting “security votes” to the discretion of particular office holders.

In our case, the security funds are handed, not to an agency, but to governors and the President to be spent entirely at their pleasure. What’s worse, we also dressed up this scandalous arrangement in the borrowed robes of the CIA’s covert procedure. We stipulated that no questions may be asked of any governor or President about how the security votes were spent, and on what. To be inquisitive about security votes is to be labelled as constituting a veritable threat to security!

Recent terror activities in Naija has shown that our security forces seem lost and groping in the dark. They don't seem to know anything, so what is happening to all the billions spent on so-called security votes?