A bill seeking to set aside 20 percent of the country’s annual budget for constituency projects scaled through second reading at the Senateyesterday.

If the bill becomes law, the constituency projects will get at least N1.4 trillion out of the 7.3trillion 2017 budget estimates to be presented to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday.



The constituency projects are mainly for provision of feeder roads, schools rehabilitation, building of market stalls, boreholes, provision of empowerment items such as sewing machines, grinding machines, knitting machines as well as vehicles including motorcycles, tricycles and cars.

Lawmakers will insert the projects under subheads in the budgets of ministries and agencies that they supervise. The agencies are expected to execute the projects based on specification and guidance by benefitting lawmakers.

The ‘Constituency Projects Bill, 2016’ sponsored by Senator Stella Oduah (PDP, Anambra) seeks to grant legal backing to the provision forconstituency projects in the annual budget of the Federation by a minimum of 20%.

Oduah said: “One of the unique features of our democratic journey so far is the concept of ‘Constituency Projects’. Available statistics show that 70 per cent of Nigerians live in the rural areas and the intention of the bill is to ensure that good governance is delivered to these crucial areas.

“The bill is also intended to correct the top-bottom approach of governance and replace it with the bottom top approach. Constituency project in recent time is one of the ways to attract federal presence to our people,”she said.

She said if not for these projects, majority of federal constituencies would not have a single federal project due to lopsided nature of project allocation in the budget.

“The constituency project is not peculiar to Nigeria alone. There are similar mechanisms in other developing countries. For instance, the constituency development fund has been institutionalized in Kenya, Uganda, India and Tanzania,”she said.

Contributing to the debate, the Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Olusola Adeyeye advised that the 20 percent should be based on capital projects.

“This is not money given to Senators or Reps, it is money meant for specific projects. At the moment, it is N100billion for 109 Senatorial Districts and 360 Federal constituencies. That’s 1.5 percent of the Federal Budget,” he said.

In his remark, the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, said constituency projects ensure equity in the distribution of federal projects.

“I don’t think there is anything that ensures equity in the country like the constituency projects. Our responsibility is to provide the projects to our constituencies, full stop,”he said.

He referred the bill to the committees on Finance and Appropriation for further legislative actions with a 4-week timeframe.

Daily Trust reports that the N1.4tr (20 % of the 2017 budget estimates) is what the 19 northern states budgeted for capital projects in 2016.



A never ending controversy

Daily Trust reports that the idea of constituency projects has been a subject of controversy for a very long time. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, being one of its staunchest critics, had at various times spoken against it, describing it as “a veritable source of corruption.”

In July this year, the Senators summoned the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir David Lawal for saying it would not be possible to fund the constituency projects of National Assembly members as contained in the 2016 Budget because of the paucity of funds.

Read more at http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/news/general/senate-proposes-n1-4tr-for-constituency-projects/175142.html#Ri68X6OpPzSZuPg0.99

the zoo so what is now the use of state budgets

This thieves never stop to amaze me.

20% of our yearly budget for NASS alone.

by the time you think their excesses is been curb, they come out from another dimension.

God why our leaders are just this way.

seek and tired of this country call nigeria.

less than 500 people will share 20% of the yearly budget, while 80% is left for 170millions Nigerians.


hummm

This country is sick

The lawmaker's should just abandon their legislative duties and take over the executive arm of government.

Madness in the spirit.

Need a sample of mad people? Check within the leadership of a country called Nigeria.

Same old way

lol... and baba still wan borrow $30 billion

sarrki:
Same old way

Then, where is the promised change?

The leadership of both houses that will pass this daylight robbery bill into law are APC coven members.


PDP Known criminal proposing a fraudulent bill and all other political robbers in the house voting in support.


It is finished!

Hmm,no hv issues wit d money but just dont the rogues be the ones managing it,simple.

Hmm,no hv issues wit d money but just dont let the rogues be the ones managing it,simple.

Firefire:



Then, where is the promised change?

The leadership of both houses that will pass this daylight robbery bill into law are APC coven members.


PDP Known criminal proposing a fraudulent bill and all other political robbers in the house voting in support.


It is finished!

For once, I won't defend the president on this. He is partly responsible for the nonsense we are seeing in the national assembly today. He allowed miscreants to take over the national assembly the day he denied having interest in how the leadership of the assembly would emerge. He refused to back up the candidate's that emerged from the party caucus and now, he will have to continue dealing with an irresponsible assembly.

In fact, Saraki and his gang should just go ahead and pass this bill quickly. If the president refuse to sign, they should override his veto and pass the bill into law. The president needs to start learning some lessons in consensus building and working together.

enuf..just impeach buhari

Who is going to sign it? They are crazy

You will never see Ben Bruce raise a finger of objection against this obvious criminality. We are talking about 20% of our budget here!! But when it comes to very petty ussues like "the other room", you see him sustain the topic on twitter , tweeting nonstop about it as though that is what his people sent him to the senate to do.

The sooner we realise non of those criminals give a damn about us, the better for us.

So r we gonna seat down and watch this brazen stealing under our nose.... This is an attempt to make padding legal............We r d electorate we have more powers than this people if we r United.... They want us to stay divided so that they can do as they like.

At then end of the day we fight ourselves over here, while they send their children abroad to d best Schs n steal as much money that they can n give u money to buy pure water......guys let's wake up ND rebuke this bill

modath:



Abeg leave dem oooo... You think it's easy to say aye & nay ? Abeg ooo...

They have my permission (sic) to increase it to 25% like they take out of the country's overhead budget... 469 of 180m people taking 25% is very very fair

https://m.thenigerianvoice.com/news/40406/1/national-assembly-spends-25-of-budget-sanusi-reaff.html

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/12/nass-budget-sanusi-refuses-to-shift-grounds/

Aunty modath, I hear you.

should we continue to sitdown look.

we are jst too docile in this country.

People commenting here are just wrongly accusing the senators with no fact concerning this constituency project.
Pls read,simulate & understand before you type.
Senators represent this various constituencies & relates directly with them on their needs unlike the Federal tht passes thru state & Lg b4 the reminant is left for the masses.
I agree & support the senators on this,at least we will feel development directly rather than wait for ethernity for the Federal govt.
Thumps up senators,especially Sen.stella oduah tht raised this bill & also to all senators tht supported it .
N/A
I observe tht the National assembly are working so hard this days & pushing bills like locomotive engine unlike tht old grandpa @ Aso villa doing notn but rather plung us into recession with his body odour.

Buhari presented 4.5trillion for 2016 budget & plung us into recession coz he failed to appoint ministers on time which made investors ran away with their huge dollar capital coz tht meant buhari had no economic blue print & he came up with very bad policies which strangled smaller investors like us,while kyria,daura + his cronnies where busy siphoning our money thru the back door & Aisha was also busy using her burea de change company to also siphon our dollar in cbn with the help of Emefiele then she sells @ higher rate in the black market.
Pls National assembly should go ahead with the 20% constituency projects from the budget because it will better our lives in the rural area than waiting for the reminant from buhari @ the top & his cronies in the lower govt.

jcflex:


Aunty modath, I hear you.

should we continue to sitdown look.

we are jst too docile in this country.

Sarcasm bros, sarcasm..

Ok

Nigeria senators are the real enemy of this country.

Like seriously??
I have never seen a single constituency project in the whole of constituency apart from the one senator Makanjuola Ajadi did the first time Obasanjo Instituted constituency projects.
Ever since that time, the money have been used by these thieves to bless their own souls and go on vacation in Dubai
If Buhari meant his kuruption campaign, scrapping this nuisance is long overdue

More money about to enter the pockets of these senators

these people r bunch of thieves I swear...who constituency projects don epp?. Na there dem dey chop our money, God dey watch una

This country is cursed!

If BUBU borrows $30, know it that the NASS has device a new way to steal 20% of it.

I bleed for my country