Federal Government is
set to probe Senators and
House of Representative
members over non
executed constituency
projects earmarked for them in the 2014 and 2015
budgets – The sum of constituency
projects totalled N200bn
for the two years- N100bn
each year NASS-and-the-defections-saga-By-Anietie-Adams Many nigerians have accused
the National Assembly of wanton
corruption The Muhammadu Buhari led
Federal Government is set to
probe Senators and House of
Representative members over
non executed constituency
projects earmarked for them in the 2014 and 2015 budgets. Recall that recently, former
chairman, House committee on
appropriation, Mr Abdulmumin
Jibrin had petitioned the EFCC,
ICPC, the police and the
Department of State Services, alleging that the Speaker of
the House of Representatives,
Mr Yakubu Dogara, and three
other principal officers had
requested the inclusion of
N40bn projects in the 2016 budget, besides other projects
in sums ranging from N20bn to
N30bn. READ ALSO: Read why Senator Shehu Sani lacks the gift of
inward assessment According to the attorney
general of the federation and
minister of justice, Mr Abubakar
Malami (SAN) who revealed this
to Punch newspaper, the sum
of constituency projects totalled N200bn for the two years, that
is, N100bn each year. He revealed that the
compilation was being done by
the police, the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission and
the Independent Corrupt
Practices and other related offences Commission. “The money for constituency
projects had been taken, but
certain allegations prevailed
that some constituency projects
were not executed after the
money had been paid 100 per cent. “If money is appropriated in
the budget, paid and the
projects the funds were meant
for were not executed, it is
only natural to take steps to
find out what happened. If neither the money nor the
project can be produced, then
you must take steps in
accordance with the law. “There are cases that are
specific; we are compiling them. I
will not want to pre-empt
investigation, we have to allow
investigation to be concluded
before we go public,” the AGF was quoted. But both the Senate and House
of Reps have denied pocketing
funds for constituency projects
stating that ministries,
departments and agencies
under the executive were responsible for the execution of
constituency projects. The chairman, House committee
on media and public affairs, Mr
Abdulrazak Namdas, said;
“Members do not execute
constituency projects, and they
don’t receive money for the projects. “For example, a health centre
will naturally be done by the
Ministry of Health or any
agency so designated by the
executive to handle the project.
It is not the member who implements the project or
appoints the contractors.” READ ALSO: Scandals in legislature: Kill all Senators, Reps
found guilty? On his part, Senator Adesoji
Akanbi who represents Oyo
South senatorial district at the
Senate said any probe into the
constituency projects should
start from the executive. “There is a certain amount set
aside for constituency projects.
Each lawmaker is allocated a
certain amount of money and
they will identify the projects of
their choice. But the execution by contractors has nothing to
do with lawmakers. The main
role we play is to name the
project and make sure that the
project is executed.” Akanbi, however, said lawmakers
could be culpable in the
manipulation because they had
to certify that the job had
been done before the
contractor could be paid. Meanwhile, there have been a
lot of drama at the National
Assembly these few months
which in some cases has
generated backlash from
Nigerians.. Get more news at http://davesblog.over-blog.com/2016/08/buhari-set-to-probe-senators-reps-over-n200-billion.html