March 18, 2024

…Faults method of constituency project allocation to senators

The Senator representing Delta North, Ned Nwoko, has faulted the way constituency project allocation is being shared, saying he would have preferred that the allocation to every senator be fixed.

“The way it is done now, you basically rely on your weights and contacts to see what you can get for your people,” Senator Nwoko said  during a chat with Channels Television’s Seun Okinbaloye on ‘Mic On Podcast’.

“Well, it is just the system. Just the system. It is a system in Nigeria… like I said, I’d have preferred a situation where we all know what we are getting — you don’t need to lobby for it and it is a standard thing.

He however disclosed that he attracted N1 billion for constituency projects.

The revelation follows a recent interest in allocations for constituency projects for federal lawmakers in the wake of Jarigbe Agom-Jarigbe’s – representing Cross River North – disclosure that some “senior” senators got N500 million for projects.

Days after the suspension, when asked if he received as much as N1 billion in allocation, Senator Nwoko said: “Of course I did. But these are projects for my people and that is why I am here.”

But he would have preferred that the constituency project allocation to every senator be fixed.

“The way it is done now, you basically rely on your weights and contacts to see what you can get for your people,” Senator Nwoko said.

“Well, it is just the system. Just the system. It is a system in Nigeria… like I said, I’d have preferred a situation where we all know what we are getting — you don’t need to lobby for it and it is a standard thing.

“Everyone of the 109 senators from the onset should know what is going on in their particular district and it should be published.

“A better approach would have been for senatorial uniformity. So if they say that everyone should get about N1 billion, so be it. But this way, you rely on your weight and contacts to see what you can get for your people.

“This is not money for us. It is money for projects within our senatorial districts. So if you have roads, water projects, training programmes all aggregate to a certain sum.”

The Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Ali Ndume, who was a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday, said presiding and principal officers got more in constituency project allocation because “some animals are more equal than others”.