The Legislative Contractors
“It should be clear to the National Assembly that their incestuous relationship with the Ministries, Departments and Agencies on which they have oversight responsibilities cannot continue. It is an open secret that many of our lawmakers are the leading contractors in some of these MDAs where they deploy their oversight powers as a weapon of blackmail and intimidation…”
An apparently uncomfortable Hon Thomas Ereyitomi – chair of proceedings in the absence of committee chairman, Hon Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo —kept shouting “It’s okay, it’s okay, Hon Minister, it’s okay. Drop the mic, it’s okay, it’s okay”, in a futile attempt to prevent the public from hearing whatever bombshell Akpabio might throw next.
If you go through the ‘2020 Appropriation Act FGN Budget Details’ as I have done, it is easy to locate the contracts promoted by National Assembly members. And most of them have no real value to the people and may in fact be duplication of projects inserted in previous budgets. The contract sum carries the same round figures in sequential order and the majority are labeled as ‘ongoing projects’ and domiciled in ‘some communities’ or ‘various locations’.
In his capacity as Senate Minority Leader at the time, Akpabio had requested the fencing of Federal Polytechnic Ukana, Akwa Ibom at a cost of N200 million and another fencing of Federal Government College, Ikot Ekpene in the same state he governed for eight years at N100 million. Two training sessions “in the use of modern farming implement” gulped N150 million.
But I also spoke to how the lawmakers help to erode their own credibility: “As far as the Honourable members seated here this morning are concerned, you are serving the people. But where majority of Nigerians are concerned, you are all here serving only your own interest…From certificate forgery and bribery scandals to budget padding and rowdy sessions that sometimes degenerate into fisticuffs, every negative episode involving members only serves to erode the credibility of the legislature.
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