I Never Received ‘Security Vote’ As Lagos Governor — Fashola

Former Lagos State governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, has said that he never received what is popularly referred to as a “security vote” throughout his eight-year tenure as governor, insisting that security-related expenditures under his administration were handled through transparent government institutions.

Fashola made the disclosure on Friday while speaking during a panel discussion at The Platform Nigeria Special June 12 Lecture held in Lagos on Friday.

The event, themed “Governance, Democracy, National Security,” was organised by the Covenant Christian Centre, led by Pastor Poju Oyemade, to commemorate this year’s Democracy Day anniversary.

Speaking on governance and security management, the former Minister of Works and Housing said he has often been puzzled by discussions around ‘security votes’, noting that he never personally enjoyed such an arrangement while serving as governor of Lagos State.

“This security vote thing, whenever I hear some of my colleagues talk about it, I don’t know what it means because I never had it in Lagos,” Fashola said.

“I was the governor, I speak for what I know. All our acquisitions were domiciled in the Ministry of Budget and Planning. I didn’t get it, and in some instances, I don’t know from where they got it.”

Fashola stressed that governors have a constitutional responsibility to ensure the security of lives and property within their states and cannot evade that obligation.

“The Constitution prescribes that we are chief security officers of our states, and we can’t walk away from that. I accepted that title, and I did as much as I could with my team to make this place (Lagos) safer.

“We used to have a monthly security meeting. In eight years, we never missed that meeting. We took data every month,” he said.

According to him, one of the major initiatives of his administration was the establishment of the Lagos State Security Trust Fund, which brought together government and private sector stakeholders to support security operations in the state.

He further explained that the fight against crime and insecurity during his administration extended beyond the procurement of weapons and security equipment, involving strategic policy interventions designed to reduce criminal opportunities.

Fashola cited the introduction of cashless transactions as one of the innovative measures adopted by his government to tackle crime in the State.

“We were the first to start the cashless policy because we found a way of making people get cash away from their homes, so there was no incentive. They don’t get abducted from their homes,” he said.

According to him, effective security management requires more than deploying armed personnel and equipment.

“It was not just a battle won with arms and guns, it was also a battle won with policies,” Fashola said.