By Abiemwense Moru
Abuja – A member of House of Representatives, Rep. Bede Uchenna, said poor budgetary releases were responsible for non-execution and abandoned constituency projects across the country.
Uchenna, who is the Deputy Chairman, House Committee on Constituency Outreach, stated this on Thursday in Abuja at a stakeholders’ roundtable on constituency projects.
The event was organized by Order Paper Nigeria in conjunction with US Agency for International Development (USAID).
The forum is to aggregate views of Nigerians on how to track constituency projects fund through ‘ConsTrack’, a public finance tracking mechanism initiated by Order Paper Nigeria.
Uchenna said that constituency projects were often not fully funded saying “even last year, the projects were only funded by 60 per cent”.
He explained that contrary to impression held by many Nigerians, contracts for constituency projects were not awarded by the lawmakers but by Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs).
“I want Nigerians to know and I also appeal with the media and civil society to enlighten Nigerians about the concept of constituency projects.
“We do not award the contracts; we do not generate bill of quantities; all these are done by the executive through the MDAs.
“It is true that we initiate the projects, but we are not involved in the award of the contracts.
“Some lawmakers may influence, make case for contractors to be given the jobs but this does not mean constituency projects are a fraud.
“For some of us, we are making impact in our constituencies,’’ he said.
Uchenna said that the intendment of the idea of constituency projects was fantastic as it took governance to the grassroots.
According to him, if not for the policy, many communities in the country will never see a federal project.
He said that the role of the legislature was being misunderstood by many Nigerians, and that it was partly responsible for the misgivings on constituency projects.
The lawmaker said that the legislature had initiated many bills aimed at addressing incidents of abuse of the constituency projects policy, adding that the bills were at different stages of consideration.
“It is unfortunate that many Nigerians do not know the primary role of a legislature, and therefore a huge pressure is mounted on an average lawmaker.
“Again, some don’t even remember that there is a legislature at the state level and even at the local government level.
“If a lawmaker does not influence projects to his constituency or community, he may not be re-elected, and when you do not return, people say you have failed.
“Constituents expect you to pay school fees, settle hospital bills, burial expenses among others. So, to some, these are things they use in assessing whether a lawmaker performs or not.
“So, until Nigerians fully appreciate these facts, they will continue to have a wrong impression about National Assembly members,’’ he said.
In his remarks, the Executive Director of Order Paper, Mr Oke Epia, said that ConTrack was designed to trigger and promote increased and informed citizens’ participation.
He said that it was also designed for appropriate interfaces with elected representatives regarding the choice and implementation of constituency projects across Nigeria.
Epia said, “the project is built around a mobile application and its overall objective is to engender transparency, accountability and inclusiveness in constituency projects while setting off a massive nationwide engagement on the scheme’’.
Epia disclosed that ConTrack was being implemented with support from USAID’s Strengthening Advocacy and Civic Engagement (SACE) project.
The forum was attended by National Assembly members, civil society groups, representatives of government agencies, including the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) and the media. (NAN)
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