by Azeez Adeniyi
Chairman of the Afenifere Renewal Group, Olawale Oshun has said the inclusion of constituency projects in the budget is a waste of government funds.
Oshun stated this at a public lecture entitled, “Politics and Governance: The Nigerian Contradistinction,” at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Lagos.
He said if elected officials were paid only their earned income, there qoild be surplus would been developmental projects that will benefit the citizens.
He said, “If the executive arm of government cannot, on their own, turn their proposals into law, the legislators have no singular responsibility in the execution of the budget other than to carry out oversight functions thereupon.
“The executive and legislative arms of government in Nigeria must backslap one another, otherwise, in which other country is the executive function of implementing projects ceded to the members of the legislature.”
He said constituency projects are just a way to ‘take funds from government’s coffers’.
“Politicisation of our pay system and the unwholesome management of our revenue sources take investible funds away from government coffers,” he said.
He added, “Proper governance would entail labour unions laying emphasis on compelling, through sustained mass action, the National Assembly and other levels of government to lay open their books, and ensure that no elected official earns more than the highest-paid public servant as it is done in well-established democracies.”
Please be rational within you sphere when you think and speak. Please i don’t mean to be insultive here. Did you consider the fact that every developed city crowl or emanate from a constituency and if not of constituency project centralised in these localities promphting development to bear, would you one day consider a place to be called the capital of a state. Secondly, constituency project should be a priority for the masses to see and feel the impact of government, leadership and development not a total neglect. Goverment should put on infrastures,commercial parks and reahab centers e.t.c in all constituency for people to feel development. This could provide opportunity for the unemployed and putting mentaince policy as a standard backing for such project. Let us be positive not lutting and alotting government fund for personal use.