Nigerian Govt Issues Guidelines On Constituency Project Payments

17 October 2023
Premium Times (Abuja)
By Kabir Yusuf

Ministries had in the past arbitrarily certified payments of Zonal Intervention or Constituency projects without the approval of the ministry of special duties.

The federal government says only the Ministry of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs has the mandate to certify payments of Zonal Intervention Projects (ZIPs) and Constituency Projects (CP) executed by Ministries, Departments, and Agencies, (MDAs).

Now in place is a multi-layered procedure that appears to strengthen the role of the special duties ministry, a government circular shows.

The circular, titled: "Revised Guidelines on the Implementation of Zonal Intervention Projects (ZIP) and Constituency Projects (CP)," was endorsed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume.

A spokesperson of the Ministry of Special Duties said the circular has been dispatched to all ministers and several other senior officials, including the head of the service, the president's chief of staff, military chiefs, the Central Bank of Nigeria governor, and permanent secretaries, among others.

Ministries had in the past arbitrarily certified payments of Zonal Intervention or Constituency projects without the approval of the ministry of special duties.

Federal lawmakers have always allocated N100 billion yearly for Zonal Intervention Projects. The lawmakers are also spending billions of naira on constituency projects aside from ZIPs.

Those familiar with the arrangement said nothing differentiates ZIPs from constituency projects.

Lawmakers devised the semantics to evade scrutiny from citizens and advocacy groups who have long identified constituency projects as one of the multiple layers of corrupt enrichment by lawmakers.

Henceforth, Mr Akume said, "No payment shall be made to any contractor for ZIP/CP by MDAs without verification of the execution of such projects/programmes and certification by the Ministry of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs."

Mr Akume said it had become imperative to reissue the guideline following flagrant disregard by implementing MDAs.

The new guidelines stated that implementing MDAs shall invite the ministry of special duties to verify all (ZIP/CP) as contained in both ZIP Appropriation and Capital Appropriation."

On the issue of funding for the verification exercise, the circular stated: "Funds for the purpose of this verification exercise shall be sourced from the Project Administration Funds of the ZIP/CP under the purview of the various MDAs."

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