The Legislative Miscarriage

By: Comr. Wisdom U. O. (DonWis)

With reference to Ahiazu / Ezinihitte Federal Constituency  and with regard to the engagements with citizen-voters whose interest are expected to be represented in the parliament. It is an issue of public discourse on constituency office/projects as there's little or no evidence/benefit to the grassroots of the Million Naira constituency allowance over the years of democratic dispensation. My focus on constituency office: it's been 10 months after inauguration of the present dispensation, our lawmaker is yet to set up constituency office in our locality depriving our constituents their right to be carried along in government decision making.

Lawmakers are expected to have constituency offices in the same manner in which they open campaign offices during the election season. A constituency office is a contact address for keeping in touch with the public, a place where the lawmaker can be contacted by his constituents to engage and relate with him, submit petitions for his attention and action, obtain feedback from him about his work in the legislature and draw his attention to community priorities or basically seek help from him or her. 

Our house of rep is the grassroot link to national politics, strengthening the notion that politics is essentially local and people-centred. In most jurisdiction, constituency offices are funded by parliament or the executive, and the lawmaker gets a constituency allowance to maintain a properly staffed office. Usually, the legislative calendar is also structured in such a way that lawmakers are given enough time within a year to enable them return to base to interact with the people they represent.

With reference to The Punch news paper lead story of Monday, December 2, 2019, it reveals what many Nigerians have always observed since the return to civilian rule in 1999: that is the alienation between parliamentarians and the people, and the urgent need for parliamentary strengthening within the context of citizen relations and wider local, political and sociological forces. The Punch reveals that most law makers, five months after the 2019 general elections, do not have any office in their constituencies. In our case it's ten months now and we are yet to seeing our own constituency office. Politicians tend to remember the people only during election seasons.

In order to get the people’s votes, like it is in our place where the people are still allowed to make their own choice unfettered, our political office seeker are seen to be popular with the people, they have followers and supporters. A politician seeking a position does not close the doors to either their office or home: they maintain an open door policy. Many of the visitors to their home or campaign office may even be members of the opposition parties. They are obliged to welcome them and find ways to encourage them to switch their loyalty to them and their party. In their home, food and drinks during the campaign season must not be in short supply. People will eat and drink and collect transport fare, even if they live within the neighborhood. Our politicians needs us. We too need them. That serve one purpose in particular: apart from keeping the campaign machinery going; we also help to keep hope alive. We will never tell the politician that they would lose the election or that they are unpopular. We will oxygenate them with so much hope, they would begin to see visions of overwhelming victory. Of what use is a Nigerian politician if nobody visits?

But this relationship often changes shape and colour immediately after the elections have been won and lost. The politician who loses election shuts his doors and withdraws into his shell to go count his losses in the privacy of his space. The supporters also instinctively withdraw, leaving behind only a core group of close associates. The crowd would eventually thin out: the same supporters who predicted victory would quietly move on to support the winner of the election. Politicians are pragmatists: even if they are die-hard party members, you can legitimately expect some of them to jump ship. But the major point in discourse is how politicians having secured victory at the polls tend to abandon the people. They become inaccessible. They lock their gates, now manned by fierce-looking security guards or able-bodied men or both.

The same man who used to buy roasted corn by the road side and personally serve the political crowd food, suddenly hides inside bullet proof vehicles, and siren-blaring convoy. He is now “Your Excellency.” If he is a Governor, he moves into Government House which is a no-go-area for ordinary people. If he is a Member of the House of Assembly, he becomes “Honourable” and he leaves the neighborhood for Legislative Quarters, in a secluded part of the state capital. Don’t expect to see him coming around to play football with his age mates as he used to before he rode on the people’s back to the Assembly. If he is elected as a member of the National Assembly, he would rather hide in Abuja. He may open a constituency office like it's history in our case, but you’d never find him there. The poor boy or girl who occasionally keeps the place open to create an impression, has a ready answer: “Honourable is in Abuja!” “Senator is not around". In our present our rep member is based in Abuja and sees no need for a constituency office in our locality. Who did we offend please?

Thus, the objective of representation/accountability, citizen engagement and feedback, is defeated. I am still wondering what could be their reasons for running away from the people after every election, maybe because we seek help from them. With nothing to show for it yet Constituency work is part of the lawmaker’s mandate. To build a positive reputation, he must connect with citizens and other politicians.

What often happens in this regard, especially in our own constituency is that as another election cycle approaches and the politician needs the people again to achieve his ambition, he suddenly rediscovers them. He comes back home bearing cash and other gifts. They had their style: they could distribute cash, clothing materials, phone sets, grinding machines, generators, motorcycles and tricycles, bags of rice, kegs of groundnut oil. Food is prepared. But the politician makes sure the photographs of the items to be distributed are carefully taken and the event itself is video-taped. Journalists are invited to cover the event of course. The politician grants interviews professing his love for “my people.” Usually, the money that is spent on publicity and self-promotion is more than the actual amount spent on the people. It is also common these days to have anyone in power set up a Foundation. One politician bought electric poles and dug a borehole for some communities. Another one built a town hall and donate transformers. Both men advertised the events in newspapers, social media groups and on national television!

These politicians would later turn around to boast that they have provided constituency projects in their communities. They are rewarded with chieftaincy titles, the Knighthood of Forgotten Saints, or some other decorations. But what is a constituency project? Do National Assembly members fund constituency projects from their own pockets? If they do, so why would the allocation for Constituency Projects be a matter of contention between the Executive and the Legislature during every budget preparation and consideration process? If constituency projects are budgeted for in Nigeria, is the Fund handed over to each lawmaker? maybe that is the case in our present. Femi Gbajabiamila, Speaker of the House of Representatives in response to the allegation by the presidency and ICPC that Constituency Projects have swallowed over a Trillion Naira, responded that only N500 billion was released.

So, who and who got the N500 billion? Where is our own? Where are the projects? Who are the contractors? Our lawmaker through his Media have told us that his only connection with constituency projects is to help identify priority and useful projects in our constituency. He insist according to his Media that the projects are implemented by the Executive through Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and maybe they MDAs should be held accountable. This same position was repeated by Senator Ali Ndume, (Borno South –APC), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Army, in response to the ICPC claim that the worst abuse of constituency projects is in the North East where Ndume hails from. My gut feeling is that we certainly do not know enough about these constituency projects. There is something we need to know that nobody is telling us. At least not yet. For example, are there members of the National Assembly who also double as contractors to the MDAs for the execution of constituency projects?

Perhaps when the constituents are properly informed about these projects, they will have every reason to ask questions. For now, politicians throw money at their constituents whenever they can, while accountability is shoved aside. Our political parties also have no structure or means for monitoring the performance or the commitment of their members in public positions. 

There was only one candidate in our constituency during the 2019 election, who contested for house of representatives. He found need to have a structural administrative team and an accessible constituency public office. He promised to make himself available to the people. He made an open declaration of his social contract which he treasure as an intellectual property bonding the people he aspired to represent and their mandate. It was an unfortunate outing for the people of Ahiazu/Ezinihitte, the dreams of the subtle turned vision and has kept the morally correct alive for the vision must be fulfilled. It is possible together.

God bless Ahiazu/Ezinihitte, God bless Mbaise Nation, God bless Imo state, God bless Nigeria.