Former Lagos State Governor and ex-Minister of Works, Babatunde Fashola, has stated that he never had access to or received any form of “security vote” during his time in office.
Fashola made the clarification on Friday during a panel discussion at The Platform, a public lecture organised by The Covenant Nation in Lagos.
He explained that discussions around security votes often confuse him, insisting that such funds did not exist in the way they are commonly described during his tenure.
“I don’t know what people mean when they talk about security votes because I never had them as governor of Lagos State,” he said. “Maybe others did, but I can only speak for my experience.”
According to him, all financial transactions related to governance and security were managed transparently through the Ministry of Budget and Planning, rather than being handled as a discretionary fund.
Fashola further questioned claims that governors routinely access such funds, saying he had no knowledge of how or where such allocations were managed.
Speaking on Lagos State’s security framework during his administration from 2003 to 2015, he noted that security financing was largely supported through public involvement.
He recalled that the state held monthly security meetings every first Wednesday, which he consistently attended throughout his eight-year tenure.
He also highlighted the establishment of the Lagos State Security Trust Fund, describing it as a system that allowed residents and private sector actors to contribute directly to security funding.
According to him, the fund was subject to auditing, while the government regularly engaged citizens through town hall meetings to report on crime statistics and security performance.
Fashola added that the approach relied heavily on data tracking and public accountability, with yearly reviews used to measure changes in crime trends across the state.