Fred Itua, Abuja
The Senate has introduced a new bill that would strip Federal Ministries, Departments, and Agencies, powers to determine the funding, implementation, and management of constituency projects initiated by federal lawmakers.
A former Leader of the Senate, Ali Ndume, sponsored the “Constituency Development Fund Bill, 2019”.
The new bill has also proposed a five-year jail term for senators, members of the House of Representatives and others who will be found culpable in the misappropriation of the allocated funds.
The bill equally seeks the establishment of a dedicated fund, which would be 2.5 percent of the nation’s annual budget, to be managed solely by the Rural Development Department of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Part of the proposed Bill which passed first reading on the floor of the house last week, prescribes that “Any person who misappropriates any funds or assets from the fund, or assists or causes any person to misappropriate or apply the funds otherwise than in the manner provided in this Act, shall be guilty of an offence and shall, upon conviction, be liable to imprisonment for a term not less than five years without an option of fine.”
The bill, according to a copy, obtained at the weekend, seeks to introduce a regime that would streamline the management and implementation of constituencies’ development fund in the country.
Unlike the current practice where agencies are fully in charge, the new legislation seeks to entrust the execution of such projects in the hands of the Rural Development Department of the proposed agency.
The decisions on the projects to be implemented, according to the bill, would remain with the various constituencies through the Constituency Development Project Advisory Committees set up for each federal constituency and senatorial district.