Lawmaker Distances Self from Community Projects, Says It’s Not Parliament’s Role

Obika Chinedu, a member of the House of Representatives who represents the Bwari/AMAC Federal Constituency, has urged for the elimination of constituency projects, characterizing them as a significant diversion from the legislators’ constitutional duties.

The politician from the Labour Party bemoaned the fact that lawmakers have been compelled to assume executive positions at the price 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 interview with Daily Post, Chinedu stated, “I detest it.”

Legislators were elected to enact laws, not to carry out projects, according to Chinedu.

“We are not involved in community projects.” Only those whose job it is should be supervised by us. He continued, “Lawmakers have become executives.”

The congressman bemoaned the public’s misunderstanding of the job of legislators, claiming that many Nigerians now hold National Assembly members accountable for duties that fall outside the purview of the executive branch of government.

“Those who visit our homes will tell us what they should be telling the executive instead of bringing what we should be working on,” Chinedu stated.

“They shift their anger to legislators, whose primary responsibility is to enact laws, rather than 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 that 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 number of unfulfilled requests. The communities don’t grasp it most of the time,” he said.

According to Chinedu, lawmakers now pursue boreholes and roads rather than laws.
Chinedu lamented how legislators’ attention has changed from legislation to tangible initiatives as a result of constituency projects.

Everywhere we go, people continue to make demands on various projects. Lawmaking and constitutional changes that would improve people’s lives are no longer of interest to them, 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 wrongly viewed as failures by their voters.

He stated, “Some of our colleagues who ended up 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, probably because he is from the opposition.”

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) received unprecedented budgetary support this year, with almost ₦1.8 trillion allotted for infrastructure, the Labour Party legislator also said.

He declared, “FCT has never had budget provisions like this, above ₦1.8 trillion.” “In order to stimulate development, we supported it and enacted the legislation. This is not how we are supposed to get from place to place. This has undermined laws.

I’m Still With the Labour Party

In response to the recent surge of opposition lawmakers defecting to the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chinedu insisted that he is still a devoted Labour Party member.

He declared, “Until our leader says otherwise, I am a Labour Party man and I remain in the party.”

“Those who are defecting have the freedom to do so. You have the option to depart if you believe that your current location is not ideal for you. Nigeria has a multiparty system because of this.

The congressman admitted that security personnel are “trying their best” in response to the mounting security concerns in the capital territory, but said that the creation of an FCT Independent Police Force would significantly increase local safety.

“People complain about insecurity in the capital city because they don’t see what was prevented; they only see what happens at a specific time,” he stated.

“So that we can use a portion of our revenue to invest in security and secure Abuja, I am advocating for the creation of the FCT Independent Police Force.”

He emphasized that, in spite of what the public believes, security officials’ efforts are silently preventing many security dangers.

“The majority of what I know about the government circle is unknown to you, and I won’t share it with you. According to what has been made available, the security personnel are making every effort,” he continued.