Stakeholders have called on the National Assembly to establish a robust legal framework to regulate constituency projects, ensure transparency and promote sustainability.
Participants made the call at a roundtable in Abuja, which focused on implementing the Zaria Declaration and strengthening Local Government autonomy.
On the occasion, the Executive Director of Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Center, CISLAC, Mr. Auwal Rafsanjani, expressed worry on incessant abandonment of constituency projects.
He said the meeting aims to implement the recommendations of the Zaria Declaration to overhaul Nigeria’s fragmented local governance structures and rejuvenate traditional institutions.
According to him, Nigeria has wasted trillions of naira on abandoned constituency projects due to lack of prioritization, need assessment, and proper handover.
He said, “Without decisive laws, trillions of naira risk being wasted on abandoned projects, deepening grassroots underdevelopment.
“Some members say they repair mosques or churches, others take people on pilgrimages, while some build roads where the community actually wants water,” Rafsanjani lamented.
Personalizing public projects
While decrying growing personalization of public projects, he called for synergy between constituency projects and local governments.
This is to enable members of the public to track spending.
A participant from the Department of Local Government and Developmental Studies, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Professor Dalhatu Jummal, called for prioritization of grassroots development.
“If we are serious about solving poverty, insecurity, exclusion, and inequality in Nigeria, we must begin from the grassroots.
“We must dismantle the structures of elite capture and revive local governments as engines of development, service delivery, and democratic participation.
He stressed the need to reposition traditional authorities as respected partners in governance, not relics sidelined by modern state structures.
Acting Director, Democracy and Governance, National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies, NILDS, Dr. Christopher Ngara, lamented that local governments often do their budgets without proper legislative oversight.
He emphasized the need to balance local government financial autonomy with mechanisms for oversight to prevent abuse of resources.
