A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the National Assembly to
disclose financial details of its highly secretive constituency
allowances, in a landmark judgment that may unearth the true scale of
allowances earned by Nigerian lawmakers.
The judgment was delivered by Justice Abdu Kafarati in a Freedom of
Information suit, filed against the National Assembly by a
nongovernmental organization, the Legal Defence and Assistance Project,
LEDAP.
Although the judgment was delivered back in February, PREMIUM TIMES obtained copies of the judgment Tuesday.
Details of the judgment shows the court directed the Clerk of the
National Assembly, Salisu Maikasuwa, to declare all budgetary
allocations to members of the National Assembly for Constituency
Projects between 2011 and 2013.
The National Assembly was ordered to provide LEDAP the details of
every project earned for each constituency from 2011 to 2013, details of
all budgetary allocations made in respect of each constituency project,
and the details of the progress of the projects.
The court demanded that Mr. Maikasuwa provide the requested information within seven days.
Mr. Maikasuwa has not complied with the order more than two months after. He has appealed the ruling.
In his defence, the Clerk argued that he had no knowledge of the
requested information, referring LEDAP to the Federal Ministry of
Finance and the Appropriation Acts.
But the judge insisted that the National Assembly should provide all
the information regarding Constituency Projects and how they are funded.
Section 2(1) of the FOI Act requires all public institutions to
ensure that it records and keeps information about all its activities,
operations and businesses. The act also gives the right to access the
stored information to any person upon request, and when in denial can be
taken to court.
Constituency Projects were conceived in the 4th assembly to help
lawmakers go beyond their legislative duties to funding physical
projects in their constituencies.
It is believed to have since been abused and turned into a slush fund
for lawmakers who often use the money to finance their expensive
lifestyles.
The amount of money the National Assembly receives – or sets aside –
for constituency projects annually and how it is disbursed has for years
been shrouded in secrecy.
Lawmakers are believed to receive huge sums, running into tens of millions, as Constituency Allowance every quarter.
The judgment is the first successful legal move to open up National Assembly spending on Constituency Allowance.
Credit: Premiumtimesng
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