Since 2004, about N900billion has been expended on constituency projects for members of the National Assembly. This has raised a lot of controversy with civil society groups demanding the stoppage of the policy stating that it breeds corruption. Seun Akioye looks at both arguments
It was business as usual on Orimolade Street. By 10: am, most residents on the street had gone to their various places of work while many small shops scattered all over the neighbourhood opened for business. Children played around the road occasionally running into the way of oncoming vehicles, a frightened mother dashes after such a child, snatching him/her from the jaws of death.
Apart from the occasional noise of itinerant hawkers, the bleating of goats, fuji music blazing from a speaker placed outside a barber’s shop, the street was quiet. Halfway across the street, a gigantic water tank equipped with a solar panel stood beside a house. About 50 meters away, three taps connected to the tank stood, empty and dry. In over three months, the residents of the street have been unable to benefit from the water due to a “recurring technical problem.”
“We have not been able to use the tap for sometime because it has developed yet another fault and we have reported to the Senator (Ganiyu Olanrewaju Solomon) but they are yet to fix it. So instead of wasting the water I decided we should lock it,” Mutiu Bakare, a community leader said.
The street is in Ifako Ijaiye Local Government in Lagos West Senatorial District which is being represented at the upper legislative council by Senator Ganiyu Solomon, a two-term Senator and former local government chairman who is currently in the run for the All Progressives Congress (APC) Lagos State governorship ticket.
The solar powered borehole is one of the many constituency projects claimed by the Senator to have been given to the people of his constituency. Also scattered all over Lagos West are classroom blocks, Primary Health Centers (PHC), books and library equipments, toilets, electricity transformers and more solar powered boreholes. Each of these infrastructures bore the proud insignia of the senator “Sponsored by Senator Ganiyu Solomon.”
Across the state on the East, Senator Gbenga Barehuu Ashafa, also has his name implanted on many of such constituency projects. On Emmanuel Keshi Street, Magodo Shangisha, several street light poles bore the name of the Senator as the sponsor and inside Magodo Community Primary School, three-block classroom also attested to the Senator’s generosity to the people of his constituency.
Despite what the legislators say is laudable achievement of empowerment of the grassroots, civil society organizations and many Nigerians continue to criticize the policy of constituency projects saying it has nothing to do with the primary functions of a legislator and that it breeds corruption.
A controversial policy
In 1999 after the return to democracy, the first set of National Assembly members found to their dismay that they are unable to fulfill their electoral promises of providing roads, water and electricity to their constituents. Ordinarily, this should not be the purview of legislators whose primary duty is lawmaking and oversight functions on Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of government.
But after about 30 years of military rule, the crop of politicians lacking in proper knowledge of democratic campaign for legislators had campaigned not on issues but on provision of basic amenities to their constituents. Faced with a dilemma they reached a compromise with the executive where legislators would be awarded a grant every year and allowed to choose which project would be sited in the constituency.
A lot of money was going to be involved. N100 billion a year with each member of the House of Representatives getting N30 million and a Senator N81 million to prosecute a project of their choice which ‘would benefit the constituents.’
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Millennium Development Goals (MDG), Senator Mohammed Ndume caused no small stir last year when he revealed that the National Assembly had received N900 billion since 2004 for constituency projects.
Ndume who was speaking during a one-day stakeholders’ forum organised by the Ministry of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs on completion of constituency projects said: “The National Assembly usually budget N100 billion for constituency projects every year since 2004 for the six geo-political zones. The money is domiciled in the Central Bank of Nigeria with the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs serving as a clearing house to approve the releases for payments to the various contractors.”
The Senator added that legislators normally sit down to identify priority projects that are not adequately taken care of in the budget and then set aside money for their execution.
He said: “Constituency project is the most important projects for an average Nigerian as many Nigerians live in rural areas. As representative of the people; your people will not ask you the number of the bills you have passed but will ask you roads, boreholes, hospitals as far as National Assembly is concerned, the constituency projects is being executed by federal government in 360 constituencies and 109 senatorial districts.”
If Ndume was expecting an applause for his ‘honesty’ he got none, instead civil society organisations and other stakeholders came down heavily on the legislator criticising the allocation of a huge amount to a project which many say were never executed.
According to commentators, legislators have no business becoming contractors a situation which often leads to corruption and a short change of the masses that they claim to protect.
One of the leading voices in that direction is Wale Fatade, the Executive Director, Media Support Centre (MSC) an organisation which provides expert services for the media and engages in civil discussions about democratic principles.
Recently, the MSC organized a town hall meeting in Lagos where the issue of constituency projects was discussed with members of local constituencies, media and other civil society groups. While some communities acknowledge that they have benefited from various constituency projects, the consensus was that the policy has become a conduit pipe for siphoning public funds.
“The simple thing wrong with legislators handling constituency projects is that it is unconstitutional, legislators are supposed to appropriate money while the executives implement projects. That is what the theory of separation of powers says, it is also for efficiency and so that legislators can perform their oversight functions very well,” Fatade said.
Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs Alhaji Kabiru Turaki said legislators have exclusive rights to decide which project to be executed in their constituencies.
“The government has decided in its wisdom to say that each member of the National Assembly has an envelope, they have an exclusive discretion of which MDAs to execute their projects. They also have exclusive rights to determine which projects are suitable for their constituencies.”
This is the part that irks campaigners like Fatade. He decried a situation whereby a legislator will have the right to choose a contractor for a project and in some cases; the project is being executed by the legislator.
“It is a loophole that is being used to siphon money; citizens are not getting full benefits of these projects. Also, most legislators decided on the specific projects without consulting their constituents on what they want specifically and all these detach from any noble objective that could have necessitated the projects initially,” he said.
In March 2013, the Construction Research Journal published by the Department of Building, University of Lagos came out with a damming verdict on constituency projects declaring that it is unconstitutional. The editor, Godwin Idoro, a professor of Construction Project Management said construction projects generally involve a chain of complex processes that must be efficiently managed to achieve maximum result.
“No legislator whether at the Senate, House of Representatives, states’ Houses of Assembly or Local Government level can lay claim to such capacity, therefore; constituency projects in the Nigerian context are poorly conceived, formulated and executed. Several of such constituency projects have ended as failed projects such as uncompleted, mal-functioning and unsustainable projects,” Idoko said.
He also raised the issue of maintenance of such projects especially after the legislator who sponsored such is out of office. “Constituencies that benefit from such projects are inadequately organised and do not possess the capacity to maintain them. In most cases, the constituencies expect the legislators to maintain them.
“Legislators that accept such responsibility only do so during their legislative period. As soon as another person is elected, projects initiated by past legislators become abandoned and neglected. Several of such constituency projects initiated and executed in the past have today become constituency monuments.”
The professor faulted the process of procurement for such projects saying it runs contrary to the Public Procurement Act, 2007, which the legislators are supposed to protect.
“The procurement process usually fails to take into cognizance the purpose of the procurement of projects financed with public fund and the objective of establishing the Bureau of Public Procurement, which is to ensure the application of fair, competitive, transparent, professionalism and value-for-money standards and practices in the procurement of projects,” Idoro said.
Abandoned projects
One of the major arguments for critics of constituency projects is the rate at which many of such projects are abandoned. Many of them are either not done or only half done and abandoned. The Minister of Special duties Aminu Turaki gave a startling revelation when he said 2,399 constituency projects were abandoned in 2013.
That was not all, the Deputy Director (Programmes), Ministry of Power, Mr. Rasaki Alonge, also disclosed that many rural electrification projects are pending across the country. “There are 1,400 abandoned projects at the ministry and also 1,600 rural electrification projects that have also been abandoned,” Alonge revealed.
In Lagos State which has a slightly higher rate of performance for constituency projects, many projects still remained abandoned especially in the health sector. In Ejigbo Local Council Development Area (LCDA), three PHC which had been paid for since 2010 have been abandoned. According to the chairman of the council, Kehinde Bamigbetan, the contractor simply abandoned the projects at various levels.
“In 2010, Senator Ganiyu Solomon and Dr. Jaiyeola Ajasa, together had a constituency project in Oshodi/Isolo constituency 2, three health centres. We were able to provide land for those health centres. The consultant came, the contractor had given design and the National Primary Health Care Agency mobilized them. But it will interest you that as at last year December, on the third site there have been no activity at all and he has been mobilized since 2010.
“On the second site at Ikosi, the man got it to foundation, the third case at Bucknor area, the contractor got it to lintel level and after the community protested another contractor was brought in and he got it to logging level, that is the fastest they were able to go. We had to go to Abuja and first interacted with Senator Ganiyu Solomon to intervene. We had to start again and it was put in the 2014 budget, we have now been assured that the contractor will come back and complete the Ikosi and Bucknor health centres.”
This situation has brought the Executive and the Legislature to the brink on several occasions. Last year, President Goodluck Jonathan was said to have withheld his assent to the budget which he claimed had been “increased” by N63 billion from the initial N4.924 trillion to N4,987 trillion by the National Assembly under the constituency project sub title.
The presidency however found a way to resolve some of the controversies around the project when last year, President Jonathan mandated the Ministry of Special Duties to take over the supervision of the projects. Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Okonjo Iweala conveyed the President’s decision. “Let me also add here that Mr. President has assigned the Minister of Special Duties to assist in overseeing the implementation of the N100bn constituency projects across the country.”
Turaki began work in earnest compiling the list of thousands of abandoned projects and reversing the system so that contractors are paid based on stage of completion of the projects. “Payment for the constituency projects will be made based on satisfactory performance in order to ensure value for money. Furthermore, contractors handling constituency projects will only be paid upon authorisation by this Ministry to the Federal Ministry of Finance,” he said.
But the implementation of the project has not been without rancour. There is the issue of duplicity of projects where a local government and legislators have budgeted for the same project. Senator Akin Odunsi representing Ogun West constituency last year accused the Ado Odo/Ota local government authorities of preventing the construction of Ilo-Ifako Bridge.
“Where were the LGA and the state government when the bridge collapsed? It is surprising that the local government that has been apathetic to the plight of the people along that area will now move to fix the bridge by merely placing a sign post at the site. And I do not understand the state’s position, except that it was the promoter of the local government agenda.
“Since we are in the same party, I do not see how the state and local government administration should be working at cross-purposes with me,” Odunsi said.
However, an agreement was later reached leading to the Senator constructing the bridge while the road is still awaiting completion under the constituency project.
Lagos justifies projects
Senators and Representatives in Lagos claim to have huge projects for their constituency allocations in the last four years. Senator Ganiyu Solomon documented more than 100 projects all over his constituency. An investigation by The Nation on some of the claims reveals that while a lot of those projects are being executed, the problem with many of the projects is maintenance. A check on some of the bore holes reveals that while some have packed up, many like the one in Orimolade Street suffer from recurring technical problems. Also some of the blocks of classrooms donated in Mushin and Ikorodu lack maintenance and if left unattended may soon become dilapidated.
There are other challenges. In Agege Local Government where the senator has donated 60 computers and four air conditioners for use by the public, the Head of Department, Education, Mrs. Temilorun Ricketts said the computers would not be used until certain standards are met.
“I have said to them that the windows they put in the computer rooms will not work and there are other little details that the contractor needs to pay attention to before we can fully utilize the computers,” she said.
Efforts to speak with the Senator proved abortive and for three weeks, he was unable to honour any of his interview promises due to what an aide called “busy political schedule.”
An aide to the Senator however volunteers, “We have the highest number of constituency projects in Lagos and it is there for all to see. The only thing is that Senator Ganiyu Solomon does not like publicity and would quietly execute the project without any fanfare. Maybe that is why you have not been hearing about all these projects,” he said.
Senator Ashafa also was not available for any interview. Phone calls and text messages to him went unanswered and when our correspondent sent questions to his twitter handle he simply directed the reporter to his constituency office.
One of his media assistants said the constituency office monitors all the projects being sponsored by the senator. “We monitor the projects as soon as the contractors call us we will send our engineering team to the site, many times we find errors and insisted that they be corrected,” he said.
For Jumoke Okoya-Thomas, member representing Lagos Island Federal Constituency, the whole essence of governance is empowerment of the people. The legislator said she had built schools, drilled bore holes and installed street lights. Recently, she gave out school buses and donated 50 tricycles called Keke Napep to members of her constituency. “What we are trying to do is to completely eradicate poverty in our midst. People should shift from demanding money to empowerment. When people ask me for money, I tell them I don’t steal in the National Assembly so they have to be content with whatever empowerment I give them,” she told The Nation.
Indictment of the local governments
Many local government councils are also not in favour of legislators carrying out constituency projects. According to Ayodeji Abdulkareem, the Chairman of Agege Local Government whose council has received a yet- to- be- used computer centre from Senator Ganiyu Solomon, legislators have no business with constituency projects.
“I think they should allow the Executive handle the implementation of projects,” he said. He also denied that the projects could be an indictment on local governments for non performance.
“If local governments have enough money, then we will perform, but a situation where the local government has only N40 million per month and about N30 million has gone on paying salaries how much can N10million achieve?”
Bamigbetan prefers to look at the issues from both sides of the coin. “One of the functions of a legislator is to also lobby the federal government agencies for projects that could be sited in the constituency; it is a way of regulating access to federal government projects.” Bamigbetan said the capacity of a legislator to lobby projects to his constituency would also ensure equitable distribution of national resources.
While Bamigbetan does not canvass for the cancellation of constituency projects, he would like to see its implementation through the grant system. “What is done in matured democracy is the grant system. The Federal Government can say, we are building 1,000 primary schools in Nigeria within the year 2014/2015. Then local governments and agencies that are interested in primary schools will now access that grant and cause it to come to their local government. That should be the ideal thing not this system whereby you now corrupt the lawmaker because it does not allow the lawmaker to concentrate on his own primary duty of lawmaking,” he said.
The way forward
There is no easy solution to the controversy generated by constituency projects, while the legislators say it is a necessary evil, civil society members are demanding an immediate stop to it, local government executives say the money is better served with the local councils executing the projects while Turaki called it “noble projects.”
“ Constituency projects should be taken away completely from the legislators and let the executives execute the projects, constituents must have a say on the kind of projects wanted in specific areas, citizens must also monitor more closely the quality of such projects and every kobo must be accounted for,” Fatade said.
His said his organisation (MSC) is determined in its campaign for the stoppage of constituency projects by taking the town hall meeting around the country. “We are moving to Anambra State next, majority of Nigerians don’t even know we have constituency projects not to talk of the huge amount budgeted for such projects yearly. We have our website and we continue sensitising citizens on how they can be involved, we need to engage our legislators better on these projects,” he said.
It is doubtful if federal legislators will willingly stop a project that guarantees a N100 billion annual payout and which also raise their profile in their constituencies guaranteeing their political relevance. As Bamigbetan noted, as long as legislators continue to attract tangible projects to the local governments, it may be one reason to cheer.
