ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECTS OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY CONSTITUENCY PROJECTS IN UKWA EAST – UKWA WEST FEDERAL CONSTITUENCY, ABIA STATE FROM 2011 – 2019

ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECTS OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY CONSTITUENCY PROJECTS IN UKWA EAST – UKWA WEST FEDERAL CONSTITUENCY, ABIA STATE FROM 2011 – 2019

Background to the Study

The parliament or legislature is a prominent institution in a democratic government and is composed of elected representatives of the populace. Thus, it occupies a special position in contemporary democracy. The ancient Roman Republic which existed between 509 BC - 27 BC is recognized by scholars as the first government in the western world to have a representative government (PLAC 2016). Hence, “modern-day legislatures were inspired by the Roman model government in which citizens elected representatives to rule on their behalf” (PLAC 2016). Furthermore, the English Parliament which traced its origin to Anglo Saxon England political institution (“Witenagemot: meaning meeting of the wise men”) which operated between the 7th – 11th centuries is attributed as the mother of the modern legislature (PLAC 2016).

Sequel to the creation of Nigeria, through British colonization as well as the country’s independence in 1960, our country adopted the British parliamentary system and later the Presidential system in 1979. Because of Nigeria’s colonial background, the National Assembly still maintains some British parliamentary practices and procedures (PLAC 2016).

The core functions of the parliament include making laws about issues affecting public interest; representing the opinions and interest of citizens and the nation as a whole; and oversight of the Executive which involve the review, evaluation, assessment, and supervision of the other arms of government and their agencies, programs, activities and policies implementations(PLAC 2016).

Legislative constituency projects refer to projects that are initiated, designed, or implemented within a legislative constituency with the input and collaboration of the legislator(s) representing that particular constituency. The projects are however funded from the national or state budgets. It is one of the measures put in place by the government to facilitate development is the constituency fund (Awofeso & Irabor 2020). The constituency project is not peculiar to Nigeria alone. This is a growing phenomenon in democratic nations and exists in one form or another in over 20 countries of the world such as Kenya, the USA, Britain, Germany, India, Philippines, Uganda Tanzania, etc., where such projects are usually referred to as the “Constituency Development Funds” (CDFs), Pork Barrel, etc. (Orimogunje, 2015).

The dawn of the Fourth Republic of Nigeria’s democratic experience in 1999 after a long period of military dictatorship, presented a prospect for the enthronement of good governance and rule of law in Nigeria. Thus, this period has witnessed diverse measures being taken by politicians at all levels of government to provide “dividends of democracy” to the people. However, the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (CFRN) 1999 (As altered) clearly outlined the framework for rule of law, separation of power, and checks and balances among the three arms of government. One of the areas of disagreement experienced in the operation of the Constitution, therefore, is the constituency projects (Orimogunje, 2015).

Constituency projects issue came into the public domain in Nigeria during President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration from 1999 – 2007, being that most Nigerians do not understand the actual functions of the National Assembly Members (Bashiru, 2016), as a result, the Fourth National Assembly sought and got approval from the Executive branch for the disbursement of N5 million and N3 million per Senator and House of Representatives Members, respectively for constituency projects (Udefuna, Jumare & Adebayo, 2013). It was envisaged that constituency projects would ensure that all over-lapping Federal constituencies in Nigeria are provided with infrastructures such as roads, drainage system, environmental sanitation wares, rural electrification, electricity transformers, streets light, Primary Health Centres, and also educational and leadership development programs among others (BudgIT, 2016; De, 2008; KIM, 2006). Expectedly, the good infrastructure helps to raise productivity and lower costs, as poor infrastructure hinders economic growth in any economy (KIM, 2006). However, constituency projects are the development initiative aimed at improving the lives of people of different constituencies periodically (Ezeobi, 2021).

Legislative constituency projects represent an obvious departure from the traditional constitutional role of the legislature under the doctrine of separation of powers, and usurpation of the role of the executive by the legislature. However, a constituency project may arguably be credited with some merits or benefits. In Nigeria, the phenomenon of constituency projects took root at the dawn of the Fourth Republic, with the quest by Nigerian legislators for more equitable distribution of resources to their constituencies as “dividends of democracy”.

This study will therefore assess the effect of the 7th and 8th National Assembly constituency projects in Ukwa East – Ukwa West Federal Constituency of Abia State.

Statement of the problem

The basic purpose of representative democracy and government, according to Dogara (2016) is the election of individuals to represent their interests as well as express their views. While, law-making and oversight functions had been generally accepted. Representation is yet to be clearly understood by our citizens (NILS, 2016). While Garba (2016) asserted that the performance of a legislator is not on the capacity to influence national issues but by its relevance to the local concerns, constituency projects, etc. That these projects are designed to support grassroots development as well as achieve equitable distribution of resources across the nation thereby combating poverty (NILS, 2016).

Udoma (2016) observed that in some cases, the constituents were not earlier consulted, and hence, not actively involved in the maintenance of the projects resulting in abandonment. He, therefore, stressed the need for coordination of constituency projects with State and local Governments to avert the waste of funds and resources (NILS, 2016).

Similarly, Kalu & Chikwe (2017) posits that to a large extent many constituency projects in Nigeria have ended up as stalled projects in various categories such as uncompleted, nonfunctional, and untenable projects. More so, some of the contracts were overpriced or inflated, there are unspecified project locations including supply of equipment to uncompleted structures or even nonexistent structures as well as non-implementation of projects, poor oversight, monitoring, and evaluation of the execution process and standards. General observation of the relationship between representatives and constituents notes that the representatives seem to be the ones nominating the projects rather than the constituents. As a result, the constituents were not aware of such projects and their budgetary provision hence, the constituency projects are shrouded in secrecy.

Furthermore, the constituents were not consulted on the project they prefer and the projects were not fairly spread in the constituency which is in breach of Section 14 (2 a-c) CFRN 1999, (as altered) “sovereignty belongs to the people of Nigeria from whom government through this constitution derives all its powers and authority; the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government, and the participation by the people in their government shall be ensured in accordance with the provisions of this constitution’’. This further indicates that there is a lack of transparency that is contrived to keep citizens in the dark as to what their representatives do on their behalf. It is in view of these controversies that have trailed the issue of constituency projects in terms of selection, management, and ownership that this research set out to assess the effects of constituency projects on constituency development using Ukwa East – Ukwa West Federal Constituency of Abia State.

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