…”constituency projects unevenly distributed”
…there’s nothing like that before us – Spokesperson
Top ranking members of the House of Representatives may be heading for a showdown with House leadership over alleged lopsided allocation of funds for the execution of constituency projects, with lawmakers alleging that some House members were favoured than others.
Credible sources confirmed to TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) that amounts allocated for constituency projects in the 2021 budget were unevenly distributed with lawmakers who are first timers allocated more funds for constituency projects.
According to the source, this development has generated suspicion between the House leadership and aggrieved House members with the latter plotting for the impeachment of the leadership.
“The allocation for constituency projects is a statutory N100 billion distributed across senatorial districts and federal constituencies” – Rep Kalu.
Advertisement
It was learnt that while lawmakers who are first timers were allocated N700 million – N1 billion and in some cases N2.5 billion, House members who are second, and third timers were allocated N100 million.
“House members are angry over the manner funds for constituency projects were distributed and are laying the blame on Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila even though he has disowned the budget.
“The speaker is however, blaming the Chairman, House Committee on Appropriation, Rep. Aliyu Mukhtar Batera for the confusion and has directed for a supplementary allocation to address the lopsided allocation of funds,” the source revealed, adding that House members affected have been directed to submit requests for the allocation of additional funds.
When contacted over the development, the Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Rep. Ben Kalu, denied knowledge of any misunderstanding amongst lawmakers over the allocation of funds for constituency projects.
Rep. Kalu stated that Speaker Gbajabiamila is unaware of the grievances of members, disclosing that as a lawmaker, he was hearing about the issue for the first time.
“As you mentioned, the speaker is not aware of any lopsidedness neither am l. Hearing it for the first time and l am certain that it’s not true.
“The allocation for constituency projects is a statutory N100 billion distributed across senatorial districts and federal constituencies.
“This is what a member is entitled to and it is not controlled by the chairman appropriations. Other projects beyond this, belong to the citizens in those areas and a function of lobbying by all the stakeholders from the area, not just the members of the National Assembly,” he explained.
Also, he denied the preparation of a supplementary allocation by the House leadership targeted at a particular objective, adding that “no supplementary budget will be used by the National Assembly to balance any non -existing imbalance.
“The chairman of the House Appropriation Committee does not generate budget line items. The executive does, while we screen to meet the desires of the citizens”.