Lawmaker: We Have No Business Handling Community Development Projects, Leave Us Out Of It’
Obika Chinedu, a member of the House of Representatives who represents the Bwari/AMAC Federal Constituency, has urged for the elimination of constituency projects, citing them as a significant diversion from the legislators’ constitutional duties.
The MP from the Labour Party bemoaned the fact that lawmakers have been compelled to take on executive responsibilities at the expense of monitoring and legislation.
“This specific endeavor known as the constituency project has caused the most damage to the legislative branch of government. In a recent conversation with Daily Post, Chinedu stated, “I detest it.”
Legislators were chosen to enact laws, not to carry out projects, according to Chinedu.
“We are not involved in community efforts. Only those whose job it is should go out to supervise us. He continued, “Lawmakers have become executives.
The legislator criticized the public’s misperception of MPs’ roles, claiming that many Nigerians now hold National Assembly members accountable for duties that are beyond the purview of the executive branch of government.
“Those who visit our homes will tell us what they should be telling the executive, not what we should be working on,” Chinedu stated.
“They transfer the anger to legislators, whose primary responsibility is to enact laws, instead of being angry at those in the executive branch for failing to do what should have been done.”
He said that because of this misconception, lawmakers are under excessive pressure, and some of them “run away from their people” in order to escape constant requests that they are unable to fulfill.
This explains why some lawmakers flee from their constituents due to a plethora of unfulfilled requests. “The communities don’t understand it most of the time,” he said.
According to Chinedu, lawmakers now pursue roads and boreholes rather than laws.
Chinedu lamented how politicians’ attention has changed from legislation to tangible initiatives as a result of constituency projects.
“People always make demands of us regarding various projects wherever we go. Legislation and constitutional amendments that might improve people’s lives are no longer of interest to the public, he claimed.
He also denounced the politicization of local initiatives, pointing out that lawmakers who lack access to powerful committees or ties to the ruling party are frequently unjustly viewed as failures by their voters.
He remarked, “Some of our colleagues who found themselves in leadership positions have more reach to do things.”
“You will see a committed legislator, but he won’t be able to draw projects to his constituency because he doesn’t have that reach, most likely because he is from the opposition.”
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) got unprecedented budgetary support this year, with nearly ₦1.8 trillion set out for infrastructure, the Labour Party legislator also said.
He stated, “FCT has never had budget provisions like this, above ₦1.8 trillion.” “In order to achieve faster development, we passed the law and backed it. This is not how we are intended to travel around. That has discredited legislation.
I continue to support the Labour Party.
In response to the recent surge of opposition MPs switching to the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chinedu insisted that he is still a devoted Labour Party member.
He declared, “I am a Labour Party man and I stay in the party until our leader says otherwise.”
“Those who are defecting have the option to do so. You have the option to leave if you believe that your current situation is not healthy for you. For this reason, Nigeria has a multiparty system.
The congressman admitted that security personnel are “trying their best” in response to the mounting security concerns in the capital territory, but stated that the creation of an FCT Independent Police Force would significantly increase local safety.
According to him, “people complain about insecurity in the capital city because what they see is what happens at a particular time; they don’t see what was prevented.”
“So that we can use a portion of our revenue to invest in security and secure Abuja, I’m advocating for the creation of the FCT Independent Police Force.”
He emphasized that security services’ efforts are silently preventing many security concerns, despite public perception.
“Most of what I know about the government circle is unknown to you, and I won’t share it with you. Based on what is available, the security personnel are making every effort,” he continued.
