Tag: Constituency projects

LONG before the current dispensation, lawmakers in Nigeria, aware that the primary concept of dividends of democracy in the country’s rural communities still boils down to provision of roads, bridges and other infrastructural facilities, have made efforts to reach out to the physical needs of their constituents.

Thus, most lawmakers, instead of emphasising the kind of bills they sponsored, would talk about projects they attracted to their constituencies.

But the formal making of constituency project law in Nigeria, during the current democratic government, could be traced to a bill sponsored by the then Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, which came to public knowledge sometime in December 2016. Another lawmaker at the Red Chamber, Senator Stella Oduah (Anambra North), has sponsored another bill on constituency project, which is currently being worked by lawmakers. Sources told The Nation during the week that the two bills could to merged to come out with what would eventually be Nigeria’s constituency law.

The bill, sponsored by Ndume, in its original form, seeks, among other things, to compel the Federal Government to allocate a minimum of 2.5 percent of the annual budget to a proposed constituency projects fund.

The Senate Bill 321 is entitled ‘An Act to establish the constituencies’ development fund for the purpose of even development of all constituencies in the federation and for connected purposes (2016)’.

Part II of the bill, which specifies the establishment of the fund, stipulates in section 4 (1) to establish “a fund to be known as the Constituencies Development Fund, which shall “be a national fund, consisting of an amount of not less than 2.5 per cent of all the Federal Government ordinary budget in every financial year; “accruing to or received by the Department from any other source “disbursed by the Federal Government to the Department for even development and provision of rural infrastructure in the manner provided by this Act; and administered by the Department of Rural Development in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development: provided that 1.5 per cent and one per cent of the total revenue, accruing to the Department under this Act, shall be allocated for development projects at all Federal constituencies and senatorial districts in the federation respectively.”

The Constituency Projects Bill, sponsored by Senator Stella Oduah (Anambra North), has long passed its second reading. After its second reading, it was referred to the Senate Committees on Appropriation and Finance.

Part of the major provision in the bill included a proposal that at least 20 per cent of annual budgets should be dedicated to constituency projects.

Oduah’s lead debate on the Bill, where she sought legal backing to the provision of Constituency Projects in the Annual Budget of the Federation by a minimum of 20%, remains very fresh in the minds of Nigerians many months after.

She had said, “one of the unique features of our democratic journey so far is the concept of ‘Constituency Projects’. Available statistics show that 70 percent of Nigerians live in the rural areas and the intention of the bill is to ensure that good governance is delivered to these crucial areas.

“The bill is also intended to correct the top-bottom approach of governance and replace it with the bottom top approach.

“Constituency project in recent time is one of the ways to attract federal presence to our people. If not for these projects, majority of federal constituencies would not have a single federal project due to lopsided nature of project allocation in the budget.

“The constituency project is not peculiar to Nigeria. There are similar mechanisms in other developing Countries. For instance, the constituency development fund has been institutionalised in Kenya, Uganda, India and Tanzania.

“Instead of vilifying the National Assembly on the constituency project, people should advocate an institutional framework for the implementation of the constituency projects as it is the case in Kenya.

“This Bill therefore is an attempt at providing both institutional and legislative frame work for the operation of constituency projects in Nigeria thereby making it part of our National Budget.”

As Nigerians await the formal law to back the concept, observers are worried over the poor performance of lawmakers in the provision of this project, given the huge amounts of resources associated with it.

It has become an annual ritual for the Federal Government to appropriate billions of naira for constituency projects across the states and the Federal Capital Territory. However, controversy has always trailed such allocations as members of the National Assembly and the agencies saddled with the responsibility of effecting the projects, are always at loggerheads over issues of implementation and finance. Last week, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal,  was involved in a shouting match with a Senate panel after saying the administration might not execute this year’s projects. In this report, Frank Ikpefan, gives a status report on the projects showing that most of them are either abandoned or uncompleted.

WHEN the idea of constituency projects was muted during the tenure of President Olusegun Obasanjo, it was welcomed with mixed feelings. There was a camp that believed that such a venture would impact on the lives of the people especially those in the grassroots as it would bring governance closer to the people. On the other hand, there was another school of thought that kicked against a situation which members of the National Assembly would directly determine what project comes to their constituency in addition to influencing the would-be contactors. Somehow, an agreement was reached among the parties concerned and that pave the way for an annual practice whereby the Federal Government set aside huge sums of money for the implementation of the projects through the Office of Special Adviser to the President on MDGs in agreement with the lawmakers. These projects, which are developmental and meant for the grassroots, are often introduced by lawmakers for implementation in their constituencies.
Findings indicated that as many as 2,516 of these projects are scattered across the entire country with the intention that, when completed, they would bring economic development and social mobility to Nigerians in every state.
According to reports, over N350bn was allocated by the government to the National Assembly in the last five years. The breakdown, as captured in the budgets for the last five years showed that the sum of N60bn was allocated in 2012, and N100bn each between 2013 and 2014 while N40bn was allocated in 2015. The government has budgeted N100bn for the same project this year. However, the fund allocated for constituency projects in this year’s budget is yet to be released to lawmakers.
Interestingly, there was a belief by some Nigerians that the specific details on the projects including project type, cost, location, and target sector have been kept secret in the past because Nigerian lawmakers typically pocket the cash meant for the projects while work remain undone. The projects, in most cases, cannot scale the basic requirements of transparency and accountability. Some of the projects simply lie in waste while others do not serve the needs of the people it was intended for.
In most cases, government projects are executed with inferior products which consequently cause loss of lives, developmental setbacks, and attracts more repair and remediation costs for the government than improve the lives of communities it intended to serve. This practice stems from contractors aiming to maximize profit by trimming the cost of implementation or political influence being exerted by the representative(s) of the particular area solely for personal financial gain. At a huge cost to taxpayers, these substandard materials are procured at outrageous prices, with no sanctions from the government when consequences and complaints arise.
However, despite the huge sums of money released by the federal government on constituency projects, many Nigerians claimed they are yet to feel the impact of such projects in their communities.
In Niger State for example, a constituency project tagged “supporting poverty eradication through economic empowerment projects and skill acquisition in Gurara/Suleja/Tafa Federal constituency, Niger state,” had no impact on the community. N300, 000,000 million was budgeted for the empowerment scheme in the state. Unfortunately, the people were not aware of the provision for this scheme in the budget. The status? Not done. This project is the most significant in terms of cost in the state and leads a list of four other empowerment programs currently uncompleted in Niger state. This project is part of 23 others that are abandoned in the state, despite huge budgetary allocation.
A report released recently by a civic technology organization, BudgIT Nigeria, said that 211 constituency projects were abandoned by 16 states. The organization, according to the report, tracked 436 projects in Lagos, Edo, Ondo, Delta, Jigawa, Niger, Kebbi, Kano, Kaduna, Gombe, Kogi, Ogun, Imo, Anambra, Cross River and Oyo. Only 145 projects were completed, while 77 of the projects are on-going.
The report gave details of financial allocations to every constituency project in the states. The 16 states tracked with high figures of uncompleted projects include: Kano (32), Niger (24), Kogi (20), Gombe (19), Ogun (18), Ondo (16), Cross River (12), Imo (12), Oyo (12), Edo (11), Kebbi (11), Delta (9), Jigawa (8), Kaduna (7), and Anambra (4). The organization explained that it could not track most of the projects in Lagos state because they were mostly “empowerment projects.” “How do you track an empowerment project? That was the problem we had with Lagos state,” Program Officer at BudgIT, Uadamen Ilevbaoije, told our reporter.
For example, provision of boreholes at Ogbomosho North, South and Orire Federal Constituency, Oyo state, estimated at N146, 000,000 million remain undone till date. In Cross River state, N110, 000 Million was budgeted for erosion control in Adiabo Akaniobio-Ukpakata, Cross River south senatorial district. The project has since been abandoned according to the report.
In Edo state, construction of Urhokuosa township road (completion of side drains and asphalting) Uhunmwode LGA, Edo state, at N100, 000,000, remain undone despite the huge allocation for the project. Rural electrification in 6 areas at Ogbomosho North, South and Orire Federal constituency, Oyo, at N96, 000,000,has not been done either.
Some of the abandoned projects with huge allocations in the report include: Furnishing and equipping of the newly constructed primary health care centre in Jere town, Kagarko LGA, Kaduna state, at N90, 000,000 million. Status: Not done. Construction of blocks of classrooms, furniture and VIP toilets in Kaduna central senatorial district, N95, 000,000 million, not done.
Construction of Isoko Ring Road, Delta state, at N142, 000,000 million, not done. Supply of communal buses to psychiatric hospital Benin City, Edo South Senatorial District, Edo state, at N110, 000,000 million, not done.
Others are: electrification of Daupe, Apo, Gauraka, Toba, Chipo, Zidna and Chawa (tafa lga), Tungan Tsauni, Numba Tukura, Padaman Abuchi and Kwankashe extension (Suleja LGA); and Abuchi, Gwale, Burum, Tuchi, Lahu, Gusun, Pasali, Taile, Londna, Dagibe, and Twada, Boyi and Dado, (Gurara LGA) in Gurara/Suleja/Tafa Federal constituency, Niger state, at N90,000,000 million has not been done.
Re-intergration of internally displaced persons in Kano South Senatorial District, Kano state, at N85, 000,000, million is not done. Multipurpose civic centre at Omuma, Oru East LGA, Imo West Senatorial District, Imo state, at N80, 000,000, is not done. Procurement and installation of equipment at waste recycling facility at Owerri, Imo state, at N80, 000,000 million, Provision of minor irrigation scheme at Kebbi Central Senatorial district, at N85, 000,000 million remains undone. The report estimated the total numbers of abandoned projects in the 16 states at N1, 507,550,000bn.
Uncompleted projects are scattered in these states, a Project Tracking Officer for BudgIT, who tracked projects in Edo state between 2014 and 2015 told our reporter. According to the PTO, Henry Omokhaye, some of the locations of the projects are not known.
“The contractors deliberately hide the locations of some of these projects in the budget while some of the locations are not accessible for us to track. This makes the tracking of some constituency projects difficult for us,.
“It is imperative that detailed project locations are included in the budget. In a lot of instances, location was a missing detail; where communities, civil society and auditing bodies are unaware of a project’s location, they are deprived of the opportunity to monitor and ensure proper implementation,” he said
Also, the Team Lead/Co-founder, BudgIT, Oluseun Onigbinde, explained that contract inflation by contractors was one of the reasons why constituency projects are abandoned across the country. The unusual cost of construction in the country compared to its peers worldwide, he said, is mind-boggling, adding that contractors are the biggest beneficiaries of developmental projects rather than the people.
According to him, with little attention to constituency project implementation and monitoring, contractors easily lie to government officials about projects’ status in order to access their payment. “We have seen instances where a fresh contract is subsequently awarded for the equipment of buildings which when tracked, are proven as uninhabited and uninhabitable,” he said.
Onigbinde also stated that most citizens are not aware of the existence of constituency projects in their communities because of secrecy in the preparation, enactment and lack of transparency to show that such project exists; adding that lack of access to information about projects in communities by citizens was one of the challenges to development.
He said: “On constituency projects, we want the Federal Government and National Assembly to ensure that there is an inclusive approach in determining these projects. That is the first problem of constituency project. Someone sits in Abuja as a constituency and decides for political reasons or personal reasons and decides what makes a constituency project.
“Sometimes the community is not aware, it does not meet their needs and so they don’t even know who is involved, you need a water system you get a solar lighting system. You wonder that how does that change their lives? Inclusiveness has to stand first.
“Second proper funding of those projects, proper funding and proper monitoring. A lot of times projects are abandoned in mid way. A lot of times it does not even have alignment. We think if we do all of these things we can improve the constituency project. It is important because people at the grassroots need our help, needs our support.
“The question also comes: is that supposed to be a federal government work? It is happening. How do we put more inclusiveness? How do we ensure funds are properly released and there is proper service monitoring?”
Earlier this year, Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola (SAN) observed that lawmakers were known to recommend “crowded” projects mostly in primary healthcare and projects that constitutionally were the responsibility of local governments.
According to him, the projects often end up as duplication of efforts when lawmakers and local governments are providing the same projects for communities.
He also pointed out that there should be a framework to differentiate government-funded projects from the private constituency projects of legislators.
The minister had said: “I say this because we must avoid the risk of crowded projects where legislators at the national level are made strictly to implement constituency projects that involve primary healthcare centres, which are for the local government areas.
“We should develop a legal framework for the operations of constituency projects. To the extent therefore that constituency projects are not necessarily provided for in our constitution. They have grown by convention from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.
“So, it is important to design a framework that will ensure that these projects are really constituency projects and not legislators’ projects.
But the Speaker, House of Representative, Yakubu Dogara strongly defended the projects. He stated that there was a constitutional backing for the projects, besides such projects being popular in many democratic jurisdictions globally.
The Speaker said one sure way of bringing government closer to the people and to give all communities a sense of belonging was through constituency projects.
Dogara said: “This conference, which is organized by the National Assembly and facilitated by the NILS, is designed to assist legislators in finding practical ways of improving the performance of their representative role.”
With these projects scattered across the mainly in disused and substandard state, it is difficult to fault those who argue that the constituency projects idea is nothing more than another good venture that has gone awry and has become a painful addition to many other white elephants that dot the Nigerian landscape.

Continued from last Thursday

What has delayed the appointments of people into Federal Government boards?

Let me tell you; it took some of the previous governments two years to make board appointments. Now, the issue of board appointments is moving faster than in previous governments. We need to do it very diligently. Up until September, only the president and vice president were running the country and their hands were too full for them to get engaged in board appointments. Then the SGF, Chief of Staff and quite some few others came on board, and it is the OSGF that co-ordinates all of these. The president approved the setting up of a committee late last year to do this. The first thing the committee did was to set up criteria for people who would merit being on a board in an APC government. We needed to get all the parastatals whose boards need to be constituted. Then we did what we called ceding, in the sense that we needed to share the boards in an equitable manner among all the states so that each state, as much as possible, would have its own fair share of board chairmen and board members. I think we started with close to 400 or 500 parastatals. It was not a mean job with board membership of, in those days, I think five to 6, 000 people -chairmen and members- from all the states and we decided to cede them in such a way that when it comes to a state, the board membership must also be representative of the local governments there. So, first, we ceded among the zones, then we said okay, maybe north east zone has 20 chairmanships and 1,000 board membership, then we go back and share the chairmanship in an equitable manner according to the weight of the parastatals because in government I understand there is Category A, B and C boards so that you do not end up with only Category C or A; so it is not a very simple job. While we were doing this, the government had to also look at the Oronsaye report which recommends the scrapping or merging of some parastatals. There was a White Paper by the former government on the implementation of the Oronsaye Report. So, this government decided to study that report which had very good merit in it because a lot of the parastatals were just doing nothing or were doing what others were doing.

So, in considering the Oronsaye Report, is there any likelihood of carrying out the merger or scrapping of parastatals?

Look, the Oronsaye Report is domiciled here as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. They did a good job, not necessarily that everything is acceptable. What happened to the Oronsaye Report is that they made their recommendations and took it to the Cabinet. By the time the White Paper came out, it appeared that only 40 per cent of the recommendations were approved for implementation by the White Paper. It appeared that every minister started defending his staff. So, for example, parastatals recommended for scrapping suddenly found themselves in the survival list, because government is like that. So, the Oronsaye Report was completely mutilated during the White Paper. While the activity in itself was commendable, as a government, it is only natural that we look at it in the context of our own objectives. So, we are looking at it. A lot of hardwork went into it, and we would like to study it and implement it in agreement with our policies.

Are you most likely to also look at the 2014 Confab Report in that manner?

Well, the government has not taken a decision on the 2014 National Conference. I understand that some Nigerians want it implemented but the government has been too busy with key areas of governance to talk about an exercise that we thought was essentially diversionary and a sort of, maybe, a ‘job for the boys’, because if you remember, it was reported that almost everybody in the committee got N7 million, and we consider it essentially as job for the boys. They probably produced a document that is good and commendable but I mean, this government is too busy with very more vital areas of governance, and we are not intending to spend our time reading reports. The exercise of governance is not about reading reports. The reports are here, so many volumes that for example, it would take me like seven days to go through. Economy needs attention I wonder what happens to my work while I am reading it; while the economy needs attention, unemployment is there, insecurity is there, people are blowing up pipelines and so on.

How true is the allegation in some quarters that you are responsible for the travails of the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu?

Let me tell you, the Office of the Secretary to Government is the punching bag of everybody, and that is how it should be. My own understanding of the present government in relation with the opposition is such that the integrity of our president has been established over his almost 73 years as solid; you cannot assail it. So, the only option left for you as a ‘dirty’ opposition since you must attack the government is to attack those less known. And those less known that are easy targets, that they think when they attack them, they are attacking the president are the SGF, the Chief of Staff, Minister of Petroleum and the CBN Governor, for one reason. These are appointive positions; they are not elective. Probably, they think that “oh, if we make him look dirty, the president would sack me.” In my life, I have seen Ekweremadu for, maybe twice, and the second one, was incidentally, in a church in Yola. I do not understand the psychology of, when you are accused of something, instead of defending yourself, you waste your time hunting for who could have been the cause of your travails. If they remove Ekweremadu as the Deputy Senate President, how does that personally benefit us? Of course, while I was in the party then as National Vice Chairman, it was the party position that because we are the majority party in Parliament, that we should produce all the Principal Officers. To that extent as an APC member, I am not happy that APC has not produced the deputy senate president. It is an aberration, but the senators decided, which is their constitutional right, to create the aberration. The solution, if they need any solution would lie with them not BD Lawal, not SGF because I am not a senator. I am the SGF. So, whoever tells you that I am responsible for the travails of Sen. Ekweremadu is burying his head in the sand rather than running.

When is the president going to start dealing with corrupt persons in APC?

Let us be very sincere and reasonable. Obviously, to my mind, the preponderance of corrupt people would be in the PDP for one reason; they have been in government for 16 years and they were the only ones enjoying the booty, and they were doing it in a flagrant manner. Tracing my own (political) genealogy for instance, from ANPP to CPC and now APC, we were not getting anything. Nobody was giving us contracts. PDP were the ones in government; they were the ones the president was approving money for sharing; they were the ones that took government money to fund their election. This is the truth. APC had no access to government money to fund the president’s election. It got to a stage when PDP saw it clearly on the wall; you remember they even shifted the elections; it was so clear they were going to lose, and so they thought they could buy it. Throughout the last tenure of the Goodluck Jonathan campaign, their goodwill among Nigerians was on the decline and they were spending, and it got to a stage that they did not care about following the due process anymore because they thought they were in power and they thought they could buy their way through and remain in perpetuity. So, they became even careless about the manner they were taking the money. Remember Nigeria even borrowed $100million from the international market to fund the war on Boko Haram and they simply shared it. APC did not go to borrow anywhere. We were not sharing oil wells. We had no access to NNPC funds. So, if these agencies were converted into agencies for looting and pilfering, it is obvious that even if we had corrupt men in the APC, they did not have the opportunity to steal, and that is assuming we had. I cannot, in all honesty, say that all of us in APC are saints, but the truth is, we did not have access to funds to steal in the first place, and so we did not have opportunity also to reject the stealing. So, let them roast in their stew. Let them carry their cross. They can make all the noises and try to deflate APC, but our hands are clean by providence. Look, let us face it. If they arrest you, why don’t you say, ‘I shared the money with so and so persons’ and then let him turn out to be in APC? Those that they are arresting, it is from the interrogation that the information burst out. Let them leave us alone. This is just the beginning. They will return our money by the time we finish digging their soak-aways and bringing down their (overhead) tanks; we would recover our money.