WE DON’T RECEIVE CASH FOR CONSTITUENCY PROJECTS – EKWEREMADU
By Ikenna Ngene
Enugu: The Senator representing Enugu West senatorial zone in the Senate, Sen. Ike Ekweremadu, CFR, PhD has stated that the National Assembly members do not receive cash for constituency projects.
Ekweremadu stated this on Saturday, in Enugu, during Open Square, a Townhall meeting organized for national assembly members from the South East Nigeria by Channels TV with the support of MacArthur Foundation.
He noted that people are being misinformed that legislators are being giving millions for constituency projects.
“Nigerians think we are being giving millions for constituency projects. This is not true and should be be corrected”.
The Senator who has declared to run for the office of Governor of Enugu State, noted that what they do is to identify projects and areas within the Constituencies where it should be sited. He however noted that they (the lawmakers) do not owe the sole power to execute them.
“Our job is to look at the constituency we represent, identify what the people want and include it in the budget of a fiscal year. It’s now left for the ministry, depending on the project to execute it”.
The former Deputy Senate President, also stated that a legislator at the Federal level can only put a project of N250 million within a fiscal year.
“As a federal legislature, you are allowed to put a project that is not more than 250million in the year’s budget. So, if the needs of the people are too many, you prioritize them from the most important”
Senator Ekweremadu, who debunked the allegation by a participant at the event, that his constituents do not have access to him, said, “It’s not true that my constituents do not have access to me. My phone lines are always available.
“Besides, I have no telephone number starting from 090 or 0802. My phone numbers are 08075757000 and 0706. So, the person has been calling a wrong number.
“If am not on assignment am in my office. If am in Enugu or my village, people come to see me. I set up Enugu West People’s Assembly for easy interaction with my people” Ekweremadu said.
In his own remarks, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, Senate Minority Leader and Senator representing Abia South Senatorial District said that the lawmakers roles ends in ensuring that funds are allocated for their constituency projects in the budget
“Our role as legislators ends in ensuring that funds are allocated to the constituency projects in the budget.
“It is now the duty of the Executive through the relevant ministries to award and execute the projects”
Responding to a question concerning misconceptions about the job of a legislator, Abaribe said, “The basic job of a legislator is lawmaking but in Nigeria, people expect us to build roads and do boreholes”
Other legislators who participated include Senator Uche Ekwunife, Anambra Central, Senator Obinna Ogba, Ebonyi Central, Representative Toby Okechukwu, Aninri /Awgu /Oji River Federal Constituency, Enugu State and Representative Henry Nwawuba, Mbaitoli/Ikeduru Federal Constituency, Imo State, who joined via zoom.
Apart from participants present physically, at the meeting venue in Enugu, others joined virtually from Owerri, Imo State.
Earlier, the program’s host Nnaemeka Agụ had announced that all Federal Legislators from the South East region were invited for the event.