Ortom: What is your security vote meant for?

Reports have it that the Benue state governor, Samuel Ortom, at the hearing of the senate ad hoc committee on security infrastructure last week said he wrote, at different times, to Buhari, Osinbajo, the Inspector General of Police, the National Security Adviser and the Director General of the Department of State Security, DSS, on the planned attack on Benue communities by herdsmen but was ignored until the attacks were carried out on New Year day resulting in the death of 73 persons. He even brought along copies of the letters he purportedly wrote. According to Ortom, he first wrote to the acting president. “And when there was no response, and when Mr. President came back, I personally went and intimated him, and also wrote…The documents are here, I will hand them over to you. I wrote to him on the planned attack by Fulani herdsmen because these threats were on the streets.”

Although, the vice president hotly disputed Ortom’s account of events, one is tempted to sympathise with the governor and lament about the nature of Nigeria’s federalism that falsely describe the governor as “Chief Security Officers” of his state without giving him any control over security agencies operating in his state.

On a closer examination, more questions arise over the leadership capability of the governor and his commitment to protect the lives and property of his people. First, he claimed he started writing the federal authorities six months before the attacks and was ignored all that while. What then did he do throughout that time to ensure the safety of his people? Second, if, as he claimed, the president ignored him repeatedly and refused to take any step to protect his people, why was he the cheerleader of North-central governors trumpeting the president’s unparalleled leadership skills and performance and urging him to contest again for the 2019 elections? Was it a case of deception or putting politics before the security of the lives and property of his people?

Mr Ortom has found himself in a very difficult position where his political interests and the interest of his people appear to differ. He’s an unrepentant supporter of President Buhari but must also prove to his people that despite his political inclination, he truly cares and is capable of protecting them against the killer herdsmen. He talks tough at one instance and blows cold at another. He accuses the federal authorities of negligence at some instance but also insists at other times that the president is not to blame for the attacks. Sensing the mood of his people however, he had to indict the federal authorities at the Senate hearing. After all, Buhari alone cannot guarantee his re-election as governor in 2019.

However, his presentation exposed him and his shocking lack of capacity for governance and or insincerity or greed.  Why do I say so? In Nigeria, all the 36 state governors receive monthly security votes running into hundreds of millions or sometimes, billions of Naira, which are unappropriated, unaudited and unaccounted for. The security votes allocated to states vary based on the level of security required by the individual states and are for funding security services within such states. The governors dispense the funds purely based on their discretions and are not accountable to anyone on how they use the funds. So, while some state governors use their security votes to empower the police and other security agencies and provide them with all the logistics and equipment needed to adequately protect the state, others simply pocket the money and leave the police to operate on logistics provided by the police and federal authorities.

For example, Lagos state had been responsible for the provision of logistics, mobility, communications, kitting etc for the security agencies. In 2007 it went a step further to set up a security trust fund where the state, private sector and individuals contribute to providing standard security cover for Lagos. The results since 2007 have been obvious.  Equally, the Anambra state governor uses his security vote to mobilise police, army and navy personnel to provide 24 hours security all round the state – and those familiar with the security situation in Anambra before 2014 know the difference the governor has made in ensuring security of lives and property. These security agencies, although owned by the federal government, take orders and report directly to the governor who mobilised them.

So, it is not for nothing that state governors are called Chief Security Officers of their states. They must not set up state police to be in charge of security in their states. In fact to confirm this assertion, it was even reported in the news recently that the 36 state governors recently tabled a fresh demand for a raise in the ‘security votes’ allocation they draw from the federation account to be better able to tackle the escalating violence at all levels of the society.

In his presentation, Ortom did not mention how he attempted to mobilise the police and all the military formations scattered all over Makurdi to provide security or try to prevent the attacks. There are several army and airforce formations in Makurdi and it won’t take much to mobilise them to join in the provision of security. But from the governor’s tone, that is purely the job of the federal government and his job ended at informing the government. That is unacceptable! The Benue people livid with the federal government for ignoring them may need to ask their Chief Security Officer what he does with his security votes?

Christopher Akor