Power tiller machines and fertilizers worth millions of naira nominated by Senator Adamu Aliero are wasting away in the northern state of Kebbi, transparency platform, Tracka has uncovered.
Tracka uncovered power tiller machines and fertilizers in Kebbi Central Senatorial District in Kebbi.
The materials nominated by Senator Aliero were supposed to be disbursed to beneficiaries but they are still languishing in warehouses.
The concept of Constituency Projects in Nigeria is to distribute resources nominated by federal lawmakers to the grassroot across the country but the process has been laced with loopholes.
These projects are inserted into the national budget by legislators who have argued that it is an assurance that the grassroot and constituents benefit from the government.
But in many cases these projects are either abandoned, aborted or not completed and in some cases, they waste away or do not reach the beneficiaries.
“I have tracked and monitored a supply of power tiller machines in Kebbi Central Senatorial District facilitated by Senator Adamu Aliero, having engaged the residents to follow up on the projects, I found out they knew nothing of the project,” a Tracka staff told Chronicle NG.
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He explained that he also asked questions from the concerned authority about the project within their constituency. “The location of the project were unspecified and beneficiaries unknown,” Tracka said.
“The residents were not aware that a N50 million project was located there, a lot of the residents could ascertain that the tiller machines were supplied due to the fact that the machines were under lock and key.”
Tracka findings in July 2018 showed that most legislators are delaying empowerment projects to seek votes in the 2019 electioneering or use the materials to campaign as one of their grassroot achievements as the election draws near.
An aide of the senator told Tracka that the lawmaker had reasons to lock up the materials. “The power tiller machines were supplied but under lock and key as we wait to distribute the machine during the raining season,” said the personal assistant to the senator.
Similarly, Senator Aliero facilitated N45 million procurement of fertilizers in Kebbi Central Senatorial District but it suffered same fate as the tiller machines.
They were disbursed to the senatorial district but not distributed to beneficiaries by the lawmaker.
Tracka’s project tracking officer then explained to residents that the platform is seeking to promote transparency and accountability in governance.
The tracking officer noted that the constituency projects do not really add to societal development, as most of them do not serve the needs of the people. Speaking to farmers in Kebbi, they explained to Tracka that their needs at the time were not fertilizers.
They explained that the distribution might be mere political targeting rather than an empowerment.
As at the time of filing this report, both the power tiller machines and the fertilizers were not distributed to the beneficiaries.
