The parliamentary arm of the Federal Government has seemingly remained a drainpipe that impedes economic growth in Nigeria since the ongoing democratic system commenced in 1999. Comparatively, a Nigerian Senator or member of the House of Representatives earns several times more than their counterparts across the world.
Still, corruption holds sway in the chambers. In fact, during the previous administrations, ‘Ghana-must-go’ bags with megabucks were practically turned into lobbying and legislative tools for screenings, confirmation of appointments and passage of budgets.
As a result, reckless and profit-motivated impeachment motions against the President became the order of the day, particularly during Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration, which all ended in pecuniary deals. Later, it became a routine in successive governments until the present administration of President Muhammadu Buhari came on board.
In effect, do-or-die politics ruled the polity as belonging to the parliament became the fastest money-making venture.
Notwithstanding the gross aberrations, the lawmakers advantageously allocated outrageous allowances to themselves. The recently exposed monthly running costs of a whopping sum of N13.5million to each Senator, which if allocated to visible developmental projects across all the constituencies will, no doubt, boost development across the nation, remains a nightmare.
It is, indeed, heartless, iniquitous and greedy for lawmakers to allocate such a humongous amount to themselves when the people in their constituencies are living in misery and poverty. This is aside N200 million allotted annually for constituency projects that are non-existent anywhere.
This, believably, accounts for the unending attempts to intimidate the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Magu out of office to pave way for a pliant new helmsman.
The fundamental question for the lawmakers is; how could the Public Procurement Act they passed into law specify how projects should be bidded and executed when they indiscriminately allocated public funds to themselves even when the council is yet to be constituted? Or has the country become George Orwell’s Animal Farm where some animals are more equal than others?
For example, Section 16(17) of the Public Procurement Act 2014 provides that, “a contract shall be awarded to the lowest evaluated responsive bid from the bidders substantially responsive to the bid solicitation”.
By the way, how could the legislature prepare and pass its budget and also clothe itself with powers to override the President? Indeed, this is bizarre.
It is absurd that lawmakers fantastically misappropriate public funds that could improve the economy only to always shed crocodile tears over unemployment ratio in the society. If the plights of the youths truly move them as portrayed on the controversial Peace Corps Bill, the appropriate action should be to expand the budgetary allocation, specifically as employment interventionist policy, to enable the executive absorb more youths into the system. Unfortunately, the legislature’s budget alone keeps going up and up with outrageous allowances.
Interestingly, the Red Chamber is presently manned by unique identities; commonsense advocates, anti-corruption crusaders, voices of the new generation, defenders of the down-trodden, economic empowerment strategists and many other self-imposed titles who relentlessly criticise the executive every now and then. Yet, they collaboratively overlooked, concealed and promoted for several years their fraudulent running costs, and budget for constituency projects which are sufficient enough to improve the society.
Presently, the 2018 Appropriation Bill presented to the National Assembly early enough, precisely on November 7, 2017, by the President, to stimulate the economy that was critically hit by recession, sadly still hops up and down at the end of first quarter. Incontestably, the lawmakers work for their personal interests.The constituency projects astutely envisioned has constituted conduits to the nation’s treasury.
The bicameral legislature itself is the grand drainpipe. As a developing democracy, Nigeria shouldn’t have adopted the developed system verbatim.
It, therefore, suggests that the anti-graft agency has a lot of work to do in recovering misappropriated public funds. It is an height of aberration that since 1999 when the running costs and constituency projects came into existence, it is rare to find any such projects anywhere except few boreholes in few communities or repainting of community markets with giant signposts.
It is inhuman that lawmakers freely loot public funds while the masses who voted for them are drying up in hunger and hardship. Probably, this is where Charley Boy’s “OurMumuDonDo” initiative will appropriately and effectually make sense than the defunct ‘resume or resign’ crusade. Until the legislative arm is reformed, things may hardly fall in shapes.
Umegboro, public affairs analyst, wrote from Abuja.

Carl Umegboro