Soon, it will be legal for senators to insert constituency projects into budgets

The senate on Thursday resolved to pass a bill seeking to give legitimacy to the inclusion of constituency projects in the federal budget.

Constituency projects, which have been a subject of controversy owing allegations of corruption, are carried out by federal legislators across their constituencies.

Abdulmumin Jibrin, a suspended member of the house of representatives, had raised the alarm over alleged illegal insertions of constituency projects in the 2016 budget.

But the upper legislative chamber now wants to make such “insertions” legal.

The proposal entitled, ‘A bill for an Act to provide for constituency projects in the annual budget of the federation’, sponsored by Stella Oduah, a senator from Anambra state, passed second reading after a brief debate on it.

When a bill passes second reading, which is the critical stage, it is referred to a committee after which it would be passed.

Senate President Bukola Saraki referred the bill to the committee on states and local government areas.

“The framework for the implementation of constituency project bill ensures transparency, and there is no room for corruption,” he said.