Stallion Times Media Services Trains Media, CSO on Constituency projects Tracking in Kano.

By Aliyu Nasir

A media services company based in Kano named Stallion Times Media Services has trained the media and Civil Society Organisations on constituency projects Tracking.

Speaking during the capacity building training the Director of the media company Isiyaku Ahmed said the objectives of the training was to trains the media and CSO’s on how to track follow up how constituency projects were being handled aimed at addressing the menace of mismanaging constituency projects a cross the state.

He urged the participants to utilized the golden opportunity in ensuring that constituency projects were being tracked for toe well being of the state and the country at large.

Speaking while presenting a paper a Lecturer with Department of Economics, Sa’adatu Rimi

College of Education, Kano State, Dr. Abdulsalam Kani has said that

lack of law backing the execution and implementation of constituency

project is responsible for why the project is being abused by some

lawmakers.

According to him, “Uptil now, there is no law or legal framework

waranting execution and implementation of constituency project in

nigeria. what we have is a bill that is before the national assembly.

And from the findings of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission,

EFCC, ICPC, Bugit, it was realized that majority of the lawmakers

abuse constituency projects especially empowerment and capacity

building programme either to siphon or to divert part of the money for

personal use. And that is why it is a bone of contention. And that is

also why the masses, non state actors, civil societies are clamouring

for total cancellation of the so called idea of constitueny project so

as to avoid the temptation for budget padding in Nigeria.

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“In my own view, i am not of the opinion that constituency project be

cancelled because it has a significant importance. It is one of the

dividends of democracy. it assist in poverty alleviation, job creation

among others.

“But the major challenge is there is no any legal or law backing it.

We need to have a law backing it, stating the percentage, number of

projects, monitoring and procurement, if this is put in place,

definitely there will be more dividends of democracy in nigeria,” Dr.

Kani said.

He further said the indiferrence attitude of the constituents to

issues of transparency and accountability is one of the major

challenge in tracking constituency project.

The capacity building training was attended by the media ,CSO’s and other stakeholders