Posted by By GABRIEL DIKE, Osogbo on
The dust raised by the decision of the Action Congress(AC) members in the Osun State House of Assembly not to partake in the N150 million released by the Olagunsoye Oyinlola government for the execution of constituency projects by the state legislators is yet to subside amid accusations and counter-accusations among the lawmakers as to agreement on the need for the money.
The dust raised by the decision of the Action Congress(AC) members in the Osun State House of Assembly not to partake in the N150 million released by the Olagunsoye Oyinlola government for the execution of constituency projects by the state legislators is yet to subside amid accusations and counter-accusations among the lawmakers as to agreement on the need for the money.
The AC members have rejected sharing out of the money, the first tranche in a total sum of N600 million, at the instance of their party which regarded it as illegal and corruption-prone and has dragged their other colleagues of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) before the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission[EFCC]
But the PDP lawmakers are insisting that the measure is legitimate as the money was provided for in the 2008 Appropriation law.
The issue of constituency projects according to some PDP chieftains and politicians is not new in Osun State as it was started in 2004 by the Oyinlola administration and was conceived by the ruling party to ensure even development across the state through representatives of the electorate in the House of Assembly.
Since April, 2008 when the 26 lawmakers received N150million for the execution of their constituency projects and the directive of the State Executive Committee of AC to its 11 members of the House to refund to the treasury the N10million credited to the account of each member, the Osun State House Assembly has known no peace. Faulting the AC directive, the Speaker of Osun State House of Assembly, Honourable Adejare Bello said since 2004 the House had never been found wanting in executing projects in members' various constituencies and the first part payment of N150million was paid into the account of the House of Assembly and not individuals accounts as claimed by the AC leaders.
To prove that the issue of the constituency project was a collective decision, Bello disclosed that the 11 members of AC participated actively in the consideration of the 2008 budget estimates where N600million was earmarked for constituency projects, thus making it a Law of Osun State and that when the money was not forthcoming after the passage of the budget, some of the AC members were among those who mounted pressure on the governor to release the fund. The angry Speaker revealed that before he ordered disbursement of the N150million, each member was requested to submit a proposal indicating where he wanted the project sited. He sressed that:"It should be noted that the AC members along with others submitted duly signed paper indicating their interest in participating".
His Press Secretary, Mr. Olumide Ajayi in a statement on the controversy said the Speaker as the leader of the House believed that governance and development should not be mixed with politics. The AC members will be slowing down the pace of development in their areas by not participating in the constituency project scheme. It is up to constituents where AC members are representing to challenge them not to be anti-progress in the name of playing hardline opposition" But backing the party's directive to its lawmakers to refund the money, the Director of Research and Strategy of AC in Osun, Hon Sunday Akere acknowledged that constituency projects were necessary to bring the dividend of democracy closer to the people and turn around the social-economic wellbeing of the people in the various constituencies.
He warned the lawmakers not to spend a kobo from the" illegal money" placed in their accounts if they did not want to go to jail irrespective of their political divide. His words:"Honorable members are not contractors and as such, are not qualified or eligible to handle, supervise or execute any contract whether they are constituency project or not. As is done in all civilized settings, honorable member are expected to identify projects that suits the need of their various communities while the executive arm of government will initiate the preparation of drawings, bill of quantities, valuation, award and payment for such projects to qualified government contractors who will execute the projects.
This has been the practice at the National Assembly in the past nine years while even our next door neighbor Ekiti State currently under the control of the same PDP did not award the constituency project to honorable members but rather prefer to give them to government contractors who may liaise with the members for whatever needs that arises. The fact that an illegal act has been in operation for years without anybody querying it does not confer legality or legitimacy on it. If Adejare Bello knows what they are doing is right, he should tell us why he couched the payment of illegal fund ‘salary' while paying into the various accounts of the honorable members?
"For the benefit of all, several cases abound across Osun State of constituency projects built by the former PDP controlled Assembly between 2004 and 2007 that have turned out to become eyesores and white elephant projects. How many of the boreholes sunk during this period are still functioning? How many of the classrooms built still have their roofs on and are still standing? Rather, the only thing the various constituencies can point to are petrol stations, hotels trucks, tippers built or bought with constituency funds by former honorable members and their cohorts at the local government levels while the looting lasted".
Support came the way of the Speaker and his PDP colleagues when the Osun State Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) chairmen faulted the position of the leadership of AC , saying the party was playing politics with programmes that would benefit the people. In a swift reaction to the controversy, the Public Relations Officer of ALGON in Osun State and chairman of Egbedore Local Government Council, Mr. Bamidele Salam reminded the AC that the constituency project was legal because it is contained in the 2008 Appropriation passed by the state Assembly and signed into law by Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola. Salam who was accompanied to the briefing venue by the chairman of Obokun Local Government Council, Hon.Mayowa Adejonrin condemned the action of the AC leadership, saying they wanted to deny their people the dividends of democracy which the various constituency projects are meant for.
His words:"We reject any attempt by the AC leaders to draw back the hand of progress through the politicisation of the constituency projects. ALGON feels sad that some group of politicians who are not in tune with the reality on ground but sit in Lagos and ask AC lawmakers not to execute any constituency project".
But the constituency project crisis took a new twist when the AC lawmakers petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and requested the anti-corruption agency to investigate how the leadership of the House released between N5million to N10million (N150million) to the 26 member and the method adopted. The lawmakers who had earlier refunded their own share of the money in the petition alleged that the Speaker authorized the release of the money into their personal account without their knowledge describing his action as illegal. They asked EFCC to probe the process and sanction those found wanting. Shocked by the actions of the AC legislators, the Speaker, Hon. Bello described the petition to the EFCC as a betrayal.
Bello who spoke to newsmen after a meeting with nine of the AC lawmakers who returned from Lagos a day after they submitted the three-page document to the EFCC at its Ikoyi office said the contents of their petition was false and contained tissues of lies which did not reflect what transpired during debate on the 2008 Osun Appropriation Bill. Bello said:"I felt bad by actions of our colleagues. They turned the whole issue to blackmail, they have betrayed us. In the last three hours, we locked ourselves in my office and discussed their mission to Lagos and they claimed it is their party that pushed them into petitioning EFCC." According to the Speaker, the action of the 11 AC members was being orchestrated from Lagos.
But the Minority Leader of the House, Hon. Owoeye Timothy who led AC members to submit the petition at the Lagos office of EFCC, in a swift reaction to the Speaker's claim said: "We are not regretting our action. We stand by our petition to EFCC and we expect the commission to investigate the issues raised". The minority leader said there is nothing bad about the EFCC picking some of its members based on their petition and viewed the language used by the Speaker as a threatening one which would not help the House. Owoeye confirmed that some AC members had started their projects, while they complied with their party's directive to refund the money.