Constituency project violates constitution, says female lawyer
NAN-H-2
Projects
Yola, Jan. 29, 2017 (NAN) A Yola based female lawyer and activist, Barrister Hafsat Abdullahi, has described Constituency Projects by lawmakers as an action that violated provisions of the constitution.
Abdullahi in her paper titled ” The Legality of Constituency Projects in Nigeria” presented at a Town Hall meeting organized by Jimeta Progressive Association in Yola, said that constituency projects violated section 1 of the constitution.
“Constituency projects are obviously not in accord with the doctrine of separation of powers as contained in the Nigerian constitution.
“To allow the operation of constituency projects under our budgets is as good as making lawful, the violation of the spirit of Section 1 of the constitution,” she insisted.
Abdullahi called for the amendment of the constitution to forbid the legislature from increasing any appropriation recommended by the executive in the Appropriation Bill.
She stressed the need for the legislative arm to be encouraged to concentrate on its core legislative and supervisory roles in order to maximize the gains of democracy.
Abdullahi also stressed the need to enlighten the electorate on the role of legislators as lawmakers who had no business in construction of projects.
“Conscious effort should be made to sensitize and remind the constituents/electorates on the roles of the legislators as lawmakers and not the executors of policies and projects,” she added.
She noted that the idea of constituency projects came into being in the Fourth Republic when legislators, in the quest to bring visible evidence of dividends of democracy to their constituencies, introduced the idea.
“Consequently, the legislators at the federal level and various states of the federation, developed the practice of inclusion of funds for constituency project in the budget, albeit with no enabling constitutional or legal framework in almost all the cases.” (NAN)
YMU//ASH/ASH