Reps Receive Committee’s Report On Alleged N1trn Wasted On Constituency Projects
The House of Representatives, on Thursday, received the report of the allegation by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) that N1 trillion was wasted on Constituency Projects.
The motion of ‘urgent national importance sponsored by the Minority Leader, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu was referred to the House Committee on Ethics and Privileged on the 20th of November 2019.
The details of the Committee’s recommendations on the allegation are expected to be made public at the yet-to-be-determined legislative day by the House Committee on Rules and Business.
Recall that the ICPC Chairman, Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, while delivering a lecture titled: ‘The Role of Quantity Surveyors in the Fight against Corruption, especially in the Construction Industry,’ at the induction ceremony of newly qualified corporate members of the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (NIQS) in Abuja was quoted as saying that: Nigeria “had spent about N2 trillion on their funding since the year 2000 without commensurate development at the grassroots.”
However, in its monthly publication, the Commission had refuted an online report dated 7th October 2019, credited to its Head of the Kano office of the Commission while addressing members of a civil society anti-corruption group during a sensitization event in Kano, where he alleged that “over N900 billion diverted constituency project funds siphoned by federal lawmakers in 12 states” had been “uncovered and retrieved” by ICPC.
In a swift response to the allegations, some lawmakers who took exception to Mr President’s public statement argued that he was misled by ICPC.
In one of the statements issued by the Commission, it was reported that the Commission confirmed the recovery of items worth N117,123,375.44 one Senator representing Enugu North Senatorial District of Enugu State. These include 168 and 51 numbers of motorcycles and tricycles awarded on 23rd January 2018, under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as part of the Senator’s constituency projects.
In another development, the Commission also recovered 203 grinding machines, 60 motorcycles and 5 transformers in the compound which had been procured under another constituency project. Thereupon the Commission impounded all the items and sealed the Senator’s compound.
The House Committee on Constituency Outreach during previous Assemblies had failed to make a definite pronouncement on the status of various projects implemented by members of the House of Representatives, despite inquiries.
While frowning at the frivolous allegation, Hon. Elumelu also challenged President Muhammadu Buhari and ICPC to initiate a probe into the utilization of over N70 trillion appropriated on the average for the Federation through the Executive in the last 10 years, rather than pursuing the shadows (the N1 trillion allegedly released).
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Hon. Elumelu who expressed disgust over the misleading information from the President and the ill feelings generated within his constituency argued that about 40per cent of the fund has been released to the implementing agencies.
He maintained that members of the House of Representatives and indeed the National Assembly are not contractors, nor members of the Tenders Board of various implementing MDAs.
According to him: “It is painful that the agency that generated that information failed to state that while it is true that N1 trillion was budgeted in the last ten years, this money has not been released
“I am not happy because the information is capable of giving me a bad name before my community. The ICPC that wrote this report failed to tell the truth of how much was actually released.
“When you say N1 trillion is budgeted like the President said, if that money was released completely, there will be value commensurate to the money. I wonder why the ICPC man failed to look at what was released.
“Why should ours be a subject of debate that they will tell Nigerians we received N1 trillion when that was budgeted, but not released. My message is that we should let them know that while N1 trillion was budgeted for constituency projects, by way of releases, we did not receive that because what was released was less than 40 per cent,” Hon. Elumelu stressed.
Also venting his concern on the allegation, Hon. Toby Okechukwu, former Chairman of, House Committee on Works in the 8th Assembly blamed the Executive for the poor budget release for critical developmental projects such as roads.
According to him, out of the total sum of N220 billion appropriated for the Federal Ministry of Works in 2019, a paltry sum of N45 billion has so far been released, hence queried how the country can get value from such sector.
“I understand that projects and policies of government go through interrogation. When you say N1 trillion is released, it presupposes that the equivalent value of that money should be on the ground.
“There is also a presupposition that this money is given to members. Our responsibility is to make laws and pass a budget and once that is done, it goes to the Executive and the execution is the responsibility of the Executive
“On the average, we have about 50 percent of that money that has been released in the last ten years. The reason why we have so many abandoned projects in our communities is because of the lack of releases. You award a contract and you pay 50 percent. What happens to the remaining 50 percent. How can you complete them?
“I know that on the last 10 years, this House has appropriated an average of N7 trillion and that presupposes that you spent N70 trillion.
“In the 2019 budget about N220 billion was budgeted for roads and what was released was N45 billion. If you are expecting the value of N220 billion when you give N45 billion, I don’t know what you will see,” Hon. Okechukwu inquired during the debate.
