Politics
Constituency Projects: Federal Lawmakers Rob Their Constituents – Report
The Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) has given an insight into why there are persistent infractions by lawmakers and other government officials in the execution of constituency projects.
The anti-graft agency revealed this in a series of reports on its Constituency and Executive Projects Tracking Initiative (CEPTi) conducted.
The Tide source had earlier reported how the agency, in its report on the second phase of the project tracking exercise, revealed cases of alleged abuse of office and conversion of public property to personal use by three senators from Kebbi, Taraba, and Jigawa States.
The senators identified through additional checks are Adamu Aliero (Kebbi Central); Sabo Nakudu Mohammed (Jigawa South-West), and Emmanuel Bwacha (Taraba South)
About 490 Zonal Intervention Projects (ZIP), also known as constituency projects, with each costing at least N100 million, were tracked in the second phase of CEPTi in 2020.
The report on the tracking exercises obtained by our source revealed a series of violations allegedly committed by federal lawmakers with the complicity of some officials of the executing ministries, departments, and agencies of the federal government.
ICPC Chairman, Bolaji Owasanoye, said in one of the CEPTi reports that as of 2019, an estimated N2trillion had been budgeted for ZIPs since 2000. He adds that despite the huge releases citizens continue to make agitations about “shoddy completion, non-completion or outright non-existence of these projects in their locale”.
The commission also revealed how some lawmakers’ conduct in handling some of the projects denied “the public due and legitimate service of the projects.”
Under the ZIP scheme, which started in 2000, senators and members of the House of Representatives are allowed to nominate or sponsor projects for the benefit of their constituents.
But, from the ICPC’s report of the first phase of the CEPTi exercise earlier conducted in 2019, lack of adherence to the provisions of the public procurement law and regulations is a major reason for the persistent infractions in the execution of constituency projects.
The commission stated that the role of legislators in the constituency project matters, according to the procurement law, “is restricted to identification of projects while the relevant MDA (ministries, departments, and agencies) would perform the contract without let or hindrance”.
It, however, added that “in practice, MDAs are not involved in the conception of ZIPs” and that “sponsors nominate contractors and take physical custody of items procured by MDAs under the pretext that they would distribute to beneficiaries”.
ICPC’s allegations, such as abuse of office, conflict of interest, misappropriation, and conversion of public property to personal use raised against the Jigawa, Taraba, and Kebbi senators are criminalised and punishable with jail terms under the Public Procurement Act, 2007, the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offence Act, 2000, and other laws.
A lawyer and fiscal accountability expert, Eze Onyekpere, said MDAs who constitute part of the executive branch of government must be held to account for the violations of the Public Procurement laws.
Mr Onyekpere, who leads the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), a non-governmental organisation, noted that it is the sole responsibility of the MDAs to award and supervise contracts.
“Legislators nominate projects into the budget, money is never released to the lawmaker. Money is released to the MDAs.
“The public Procurement Act says the permanent secretary is the accounting officer and there is a renders board; they award and supervise contracts. They pay money. Where is the legislator in all these?” the lawyer queried.
He said the defence by contract-awarding agencies that they were coerced by lawmakers to award contracts to their cronies as indicated in ICPC’s constituency projects tracking exercise, was not tenable.
“The primary offender must be punished. Whoever awarded a contract and did not implement it, he should be held accountable,” Mr Onyekpere added, urging MDAs to resist the “subtle force” from lawmakers that breach the law.
The president made the assertion on Wednesday in Abuja during a news conference organised by the association ahead of the NBA Section on Legal Practice’s (NBA-SLP) annual conference.
According to Mr Osigwe, the problem in Rivers State was caused by the ego of the principal actors in refusing to sit down to find a solution that works for the people of Rivers.
“Blaming the Supreme Court or any other body will not solve the problem. If the actors had placed Rivers above their own personal interests and cared about the security and welfare of the people, we would not be where we are. It became an ego fight and an issue of who wins. So, ego is at the base of the problem in Rivers and not the Supreme Court.
“People get judgements from the court and still decide to go for an amicable solution, so it is not the judgement of the Supreme Court but the principal actors that are to be blamed,’’ Mr Osigwe said.
He added that while the NBA was not in a legal argument with the president, the association was of the view that some of the actions taken might not be supported by the constitution.
“We are of the opinion that Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution cannot be read in isolation from Section 11 of the same constitution. There have been killings in many states in Nigeria and much more breakdown of law and order than we have seen in Rivers but no state of emergency was declared in those states. We are of the view that the problem in Rivers can be solved by the principal actors swallowing their egos and putting the welfare and security of the people of Rivers above their personal interests.
“This declaration may not solve the problem in Rivers and it worries me that an administrator can be appointed and worse still, a retired military officer to administer the state. It is unconstitutional and should not be supported because we may be setting a dangerous precedence,’’ Mr Osigwe said.
Earlier, the Chairman of the Conference Planning Committee, Paul Harris Ogbole, (SAN), said that the theme for the 2025 NBA-SLP Conference was “Uncommon challenges in a rapidly changing legal environment.’’
Mr Ogbole said the conference aimed to explore the contemporary challenges evolving in the legal environment.
He said they would also explore the impact of global interconnectedness on legal systems, the growing demand for specialised legal services and provide insights into navigating the legal frontiers.
The conference will also highlight great opportunities for legal practitioners including the development of legal technological solutions, the expansion of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms and the increasing focus on access to justice and legal empowerment.
The conference will hold in Jos from April 24 to April 27.
The president also cited the destruction of pipelines by suspected militants as a contributing factor to the declaration.
However, Anabs Sara-Igbe, a chieftain of the Pan Niger Delta Forum, disagreed with the president’s action on the emergency rule.
He stated that all avenues for mediation should have been exhausted before resorting to an emergency rule.
“President Tinubu’s invocation of Section 305 of the Nigerian Constitution at this time is inappropriate. The president claims to have declared a state of emergency to restore peace, but the real question is: why is the FCT minister Nyesom Wike, the key figure in the crisis, not suspended?”, he queried.
Chief Sara-Igbe said the president’s suspension of Rivers’ elected officials from office was unconstitutional.
“Unlike in Sokoto, Borno, and other northern states, there is no war or loss of lives in Rivers that warrants the declaration of emergency rule in a peaceful state,’’ Chief Sara-Igbe explained.
He, however, accused the president of not being sincere with the people of Rivers State and had taken sides in the crisis through his actions and comments.
Ann-Kio Briggs, a prominent environmental and human rights activist, also decried President Tinubu’s justification for the emergency declaration, particularly his claim that Gov Fubara failed to brief him or condemn the pipeline explosions.
She stated that Gov Fubara had, on multiple occasions, informed the president of developments in the state.
“On March 11, PANDEF met with the president to brief him and seek his intervention; the group had also made efforts to mediate peace between Fubara and Wike,” Ms Briggs said, adding, “So, for President Tinubu to give the impression that no efforts were made to resolve the crises is misleading.”
Ms Briggs said the president’s reference to pipeline attacks as a basis for the state emergency was not convincing since pipelines had been vandalised for decades in Niger Delta without such drastic measures being taken.
She acknowledged that while the president had the power to declare a state of emergency, he did not have the constitutional authority to suspend an elected governor.
“This decision is hasty, rash, and premeditated, posing a grave threat to the people of the state; it is a targeted plot against Governor Fubara. It is unacceptable,” Ms Briggs added.
She also referenced Chief Wike’s past remarks on TV, where he allegedly claimed to have the capacity to sabotage pipelines, and questioned why the minister was not suspended.
“Why wasn’t the minister suspended, considering he is a major player in the crises and the one the 27 lawmakers take instructions from?” Ms Briggs noted.
Tonye Cole, the APC governorship candidate in the 2023 Rivers election, blamed all political actors involved.
“Today is a dark day in Rivers politics; the president had no choice but to step in to address the situation. I believe the president made some attempts to resolve the issues, but he did not push hard enough to bring the matter to a peaceful conclusion,” Mr Cole said.
The Tide source reports that two female members shouted at each other over the political crisis in the South-South State.
The two female lawmakers, Marie Ebikake (PDP, Bayelsa) and Blessing Amadi (PDP, Rivers), engaged in a shouting match on the constitutionality of the President’s decision to declare a state of emergency in Rivers State.
This happened before the commencement of the plenary.
It took the intervention of other lawmakers in the chamber to prevent the issue from snowballing into an uncontrollable situation.
Recall that President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday declared a state of emergency in Rivers State following the prolonged political crisis in the state.
The president also suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, Ngozi Odu, and members of the state assembly for six months.
President Tinubu also nominated a former Chief Of Naval Staff, Vice-Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd), to administer the state.
Reacting, the spokesperson of the House of Representatives, Akin Rotimi, said President Tinubu informed the national assembly through a letter before the emergency proclamation.
Hon. Rotimi added that President Tinubu’s letter informing the House of his decision and seeking approval on the state of emergency in Rivers in line with section 305 of the Constitution had been transmitted to the green chamber and would be read during plenary on Wednesday for further legislative action.
He said President Tinubu met with the leadership of both chambers, and the National Security Adviser and Service Chiefs before the broadcast.
