Paschal Emeka, Abuja | Posted September 02, 2024
The principal partner, Chinenye Chambers, Abuja, Amobi Nzelu Esq has described budgetary allocation for constituency projects as unconstitutional.
The legal luminnary further alleged that the members of National Assembly are using the budgetary allocation to criminally enrich themselves.
This was contained in a letter he wrote to Senate President, Godswill Obot Akpabio and made available to some Journalists, in Abuja.
Amobi Nzelu is popularly known as Apo – Six lawyer, as a result of having done probono, the case of six Apo Motor Spare Parts dealers, in Apo, Abuja, who was murdered by the police some years back.
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Explaining why constituency projects are another means designed to siphon public funds, and demanded where it is in Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution, (as amended).
“Constituency projects, being built into National Assembly budget each year, to me appears to be a duplication of effort and senseless avenue of siphoning money.
‘”Every federal or state legislator has a state governor who oversees affairs of the state. The oath of office taken by each governor is to administer the state in line with the provisions of the Constitution and without tilting to one side or the other.
“If constituency projects are designed to settle the legislators, it is a bad omen and a deliberate drain on the sovereign wealth.
“No one of them sitting in the National Assembly is more qualified than any of us to occupy the position.
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“Constituency project is a bastard to the level that it has no constitutional backing and you don’t settle political friends from national wealth,” he said.
He made it clear that the mandate of legislators is to represent Nigeria’s citizens in various assemblies, in policy and decision making, not to be contractors, as well as adding that their key functions is to make laws for the good governance of the people, carry out oversight functions on the Executive
He therefore challenged them to show him where in the constitution, constituency project is provided for.
“There are 469 legislators at the federal level and I am aware that constituency projects and the amount to be put into the budget for each member depends on ranking and position of each federal or state legislator occupies. If each of them on an average put into the budget as constituency project N250 million, that translates into N117.250 billion yearly.”
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He went on: “This amount at N150,000.00 monthly will give 782,000 graduates employment, by 12 to represent monthly salary and for one year before another budget is made. This is only from two items: cutdown on salaries and allowances and removal of constituency projects gave 126,986 graduates work, translating to 3,527 employees per state. If this number of 126,986 employed graduates is shared to 774 local governments in Nigeria, each local government will get 164 each local government will get 164 employed graduates. If other areas of reckless expenditures are popularly interrogated and diligent expenditure hygiene applied to them, lack of employment will be substantially reduced.”
Alleging that those who lend money to Nigeria go to work on bicycles or underground trains, Nigerians being the borrowers go to work in a convoy of armoured vehicles, costing millions of Naira.
He also added that the lender lives in a semi detached apartment, sharing a common fence with his neighbours, whereas the borrower lives in a mansion, far away from the people and built with the taxpayers money.
This he faulted in its entirety and called that such should be stopped for the country to move forward.