Social Action’s Citizens Report on Constituency Projects Exposes Massive Corruption in Niger Delta
By Ekemini Simon
Citizens Report on Constituency Projects monitored in the Niger Delta has exposed massive corruption hindering the people of the oil-rich area from deriving maximum benefits of projects earmarked for the area.
In a report tagged “Unmasking the Shadows”, published and presented by Social Development Integrated centre (Social Action) on Tuesday, it showed how constituency projects known as Zonal Intervention Projects (ZIPs) earmarked for the Niger Delta has faced corrupt issues ranging from poor implementation and abandonment, vague project location, frivolous and non-impactful project, sectoral misalignment, lack of transparency and accountability and limited citizens’ participation.
In his presentation of the book, the Programme Coordinator of Social Action, Botti Isaac said that out of 200 projects monitored, over 50 percent are non-existent.
He said most of the projects were abandoned while some which were completed have remained not in use thus becoming meaningless for the people which it was meant for.
He said the report is geared towards advocating for a proper implementation of constituency projects for the people of Niger Delta and beyond. This he said can be done by citizens monitoring and tracking of the project at various stages of implementation coupled with anti-graft agencies playing their role of corruption prevention and investigation.
According to the report, constituency projects in Nigeria, despite their noble intention to deliver democratic dividends to the grassroots, have largely failed to achieve their desired objectives due to systemic issues of opaque planning, widespread corruption, resource mismanagement, and weak oversight.
The report noted that the pervasive lack of transparency in project locations, the frequent misalignment of projects with the mandates of implementing agencies, and the limited involvement of citizens in the entire process have rendered many initiatives ineffective, draining scarce public resources with negligible benefits to the intended beneficiaries.
The report added “The monitoring reports from Rivers, Ondo, Edo, Delta, and Akwa Ibom States unequivocally highlight a pattern of uncompleted, abandoned, or non-existent projects, further eroding public trust and hindering genuine development. The current approach to constituency projects often serves as a tool for political gain rather than a mechanism for community empowerment, perpetuating a cycle of ineffective governance.”
The report recommended that to truly realize the potential of constituency projects as a vehicle for grassroots development, fundamental reforms are imperative.
The report said these reforms must focus on instilling radical transparency, ensuring strict accountability, fostering genuine citizen participation, and mandating a rigorous alignment of projects with clearly defined sectoral objectives.
“Without these crucial changes, constituency projects will continue to be a conduit for resource wastage and a symbol of disconnect between policy intentions and real-world outcomes in Nigeria”, the report stated.
Earlier in his opening remarks, the Executive Director of Social Action, Dr. Isaac Osuoka decried the fact that constituency projects have too often been turned into avenues for political patronage and fraud, leaving citizens with nothing but empty promises.
He said a recent investigative report by the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) revealed how government agencies collude with politicians to divert and hoard items meant for citizen empowerment, issuing receipts for supplies that never actually reach the people.
He said as a result, youths are deliberately impoverished and weaponised to undermine democracy by the powers that seek to perpetuate the status-quo.
“Think about what this means: public resources that could lift people out of poverty and build schools or hospitals are treated as spoils of office. We have seen scandalous examples of “constituency boreholes” that exist only on paper, health centres built to half-completion and then left abandoned, and training programmes that simply serve as cash conduits to the sponsors. This is entrenched corruption. It is theft from the poor, and it must end”, Osuoka added.