by Frank Ikpefan, Abuja
The Network for Growth and Actualisation of Social Growth (NEFGAD) has said the constituency projects nominated by National Assembly members were destroying the country’s budgeting and procurement systems.
The group condemned the collusive practice and management of constituency projects by the National Assembly and procuring entities saying it was illegal and unconstitutional.
NEFGAD, which is a public procurement advocacy group, alleged that the National Assembly had gone beyond its constitutional boundary by hijacking procurement proceedings midway during budget presentation under the guise of performing oversight functions or protecting constituency interests.
The group made this known through a statement signed by its Country Head of Office, Mr Akingunola Omoniyi in Abuja on Thursday.
“Apart from abrogating inexistent executive functions to itself in this regards, the entire constituency projects concept has no mention in the constitution or any extant law of the federation but rather a mere conduit pipe used by some corrupt politicians to siphon public funds,” the statement said.
It added: “Nigeria is a federation that clearly separates power in a manner as to ensure that legislative, judicial and executive duties do not overlap.
“The judiciary has dutifully stayed within these separated powers and has never tampered with the appropriation/procurement process, hence, the National Assembly as law makers should emulate the judiciary by ensuring that they maintain the sanctity of the sanctified notion of power separation.
“The public procurement Act, 2007 is the making of the parliament that guides the conduct of public procurement including the origin of any public project which is through procurement planning committees of ministerial/extra-ministerial procuring entities. These committees have the legal mandate to conduct project’s needs assessment, feasibility studies, cost analysis among other functions till such project finds its way into appropriation bill as a budget line-item for legislative scrutiny otherwise known as budget defence.
“This budget defence can never strip ministerial procurement committees of vested power of project originator and does not confer the same on the national assembly. If at all, anything is wrong with a particular project or budget line-item, such can only be referred back to the procuring entity for necessary corrections or at best outright removal from the entire appropriation.”
The statement said that it is this deliberate overlap that aggravated most corruption tendencies the country experiences around entities’ budgeting and public procurement systems.
“This illegal constituency project insertions is the reason procuring entities veer off their establishment mandates that give instances whereby research institutes abandon their research and development mandates for unrelated line-items such as the purchase of farm implements for farmers in selected rural communities and procuring motorcycles for selected rural communities. There is also a case of women affairs establishment budgeting for roads construction projects in selected communities across the country.
“All this nonsense has not only destroyed the entire budgeting and procurement systems, it has also weakened the National Assembly’s oversight powers along the procurement and budgeting line as a result of these undue influence and collusion.”
The group asked the National Assembly to desist from the unconstitutional practice of procurement interference, saying it has concluded plans to approach the court to seek necessary judicial interpretation as soon as the court resumes from vacation. (Nation)
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