In the 10th Assembly of the House of Representatives, an impressive allocation awaits its members for constituency projects, totaling N54 billion.
Under this provision, each individual legislator is set to receive a substantial sum of N150 million to facilitate and address various developmental needs within their respective constituencies.
According to the information gathered through a lawmaker, constituency allowances are one of the few privileges available to lawmakers to directly impact their various constituencies.
Constituency or zonal intervention projects in Nigeria denote development initiatives located within the constituencies of State House of Assembly members, House of Representatives members, or Senators. These projects are allocated budgets through different Ministries, Departments, and Agencies.
Such projects often have banners stating that a project was implemented with the name of the lawmaker.
The remunerations and perks afforded to legislators have consistently sparked debate due to their frequent lack of transparency. During the ninth assembly, it was revealed that each member of the House of Representatives received N100 million, while their counterparts in the Senate were allocated N200 million specifically for constituency projects.
The lawmaker said, “In the House of Reps, our constituency allowance is N150m. This is the only opportunity we have to help our constituencies with one or more projects.
“We usually don’t have power over the real projects. So, this is often like palliative for us to give back to our constituencies. Many of us often use our money to do all the projects that we do for our constituencies.
“And this year, we are getting N150m in the House of Reps; I don’t know how much they will get at the Senate.”
