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The ongoing investigation of fraudulent practices in the award of constituency projects contracts and others in 12 states across the six geo-political zones of the country by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) is a step in the right direction. It will ensure accountability, transparency in the procurement processes and reduce the alleged corruption in the execution of constituency projects by Federal and State lawmakers. The probe will cover questionable constituency projects worth about N18billion in the affected states. Other projects to be investigated include Federal Government’s empowerment programmes.
According to ICPC, the states to be covered by the probe include Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Benue, Edo, Enugu, Imo, Lagos, Kogi, Kano, Osun and Sokoto. The probe will examine the implementation of the projects from inception to completion, make recovery on inflated projects and track down the affected contractors for breach of statutory regulatory compliance, including tax obligations.
The investigation will find out if the projects were executed according to stipulated guidelines. The panel will unravel if the money allotted for such contracts was actually spent.
It is commendable that ICPC is carrying out the investigation with support from the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (NIQS), the Budget office of the Federation (BoF), Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, International Centre for Investigative Reporting, Public and Private Procurement Community for Peace and Corruption-free Society and BudgIT, a non-governmental organisation that ensures due process, accountability and transparency in the execution of public projects.
It is heartening that the probe committee, comprising of officials of the ICPC and the supporting bodies have visited the sites of projects where contracts were awarded and claimed to have been executed. The amount of contracts under probe ranged from N200 million to N1.6 billion.
The outcome of the probe should be made public. It is only a thorough investigation of the constituency projects that can instill public confidence in the intervention measure. There is no doubt that the handling of constituency projects by the lawmakers has been criticised by many Nigerians. They believe that constituency projects and other related projects have become a cesspool of corruption.
They are of the view that most constituency projects are not diligently executed. They also believe that the bogus constituency projects might have increased the cost of governance.
It is sad that some of the constituency projects captured in the budget were never executed. It has been reported that in many states, some of the projects were abandoned by the contractors in collusion with the lawmakers representing those constituencies.
We, therefore, urge the investigating committee to do a thorough job. That is what Nigerians expect them to do in respect of the questionable constituency projects across the country. Available figures from the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation show that N200billion was ‘injected’ into the budgets in the last three years to implement a total of 6,399 constituency projects proposed by federal lawmakers.
The amount was reportedly released in tranches, with N50billion released in 2015. Also, Federal lawmakers within the same period, allegedly shared N100billion as ‘constituency’ development projects. All of these should be investigated and accounted for. That is one of the ways to ensure accountability and transparency in the execution of constituency projects. The taxpayers’ money must be accounted for.
The fact that a sizable percentage of the nation’s revenue goes into such projects demands that they should be properly executed. In the face of declining federal revenue amid many competing needs, it has become necessary that all projects captured in the budget must be executed. Any money not accounted for must be refunded with interest.
On no account should the nation’s money be voted for phony projects or siphoned by some individuals under the guise of constituency projects. All those implicated in such corrupt deals must be apprehended and diligently prosecuted according to the laws of the land. Anyone found guilty must be adequately sanctioned. There is urgent need to review the execution of constituency projects and make the exercise more transparent.
