About N3.76 billion of the N100
billion allocated for Zonal Intervention Projects in the 2019 budget are opaque
and “at the risk of being stolen.”
This was stated by the
anti-corruption agency, ICPC, in a report titled “BREAKDOWN OF 2019 ZONAL
INTERVENTION PROJECTS (ZIP) ALLOCATIONS.”
The ZIPs, also called
constituency projects, are nominated by lawmakers who propose them during the
annual budget review. The projects are then inserted into the budgets of
relevant ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).
However, these projects are often
enmeshed in corruption, and President Muhammadu Buhari last week lamented that
despite the appropriation of over N1 trillion for these projects in the past
ten years, there was nothing tangible to show for them.
About N100 billion were
appropriated for the ZIPs in 2019.
In its report, the ICPC
categorised the opaque appropriations into Empowerment (N26.1 billion) and
Capacity Building (N9.3 billion).
“These empowerment projects are
so opaque that it is difficult to track them,” the ICPC chairman, Bolaji
Owasanoye told journalists Thursday morning while speaking about his agency’s
report.
Mr Owasanoye explained that his
agency was reviewing the constituency projects to ensure they were more
transparent and efficient. Speaking on the shady appropriations within the
ZIPs, the law professor said his agency “could not find what projects they are
meant for.”
He, however, said his agency has
“flagged” these appropriations and “believe that money will not be released”
for them.
Lagos most guilty
According to the report, ZIPs
meant for Lagos State have the highest of these ‘opaque’ appropriations with N1
billion of the N3.2 billion proposed for the state in that category.
Lagos is closely followed by
Cross River where lawmakers proposed N632 million opaque projects of the total
N1.6 billion ZIPs for the state.
Some of the states where
lawmakers proposed little or no ‘opaque’ constituency projects, according to
the ICPC, include Niger, Enugu, Anambra, Edo and Yobe.
Mr Owasanoye said in monitoring
these constituency projects, his agency worked with lawmakers and the relevant
MDAs. He said his agency was not concerned about the politics of the ZIPs but
about ensuring that communities get value for the money spent on such projects.
The ICPC had earlier made
recommendations on how to ensure the ZIPs are more efficient.
One of the recommendations was
that “government should not accept new projects in a particular constituency if
there are existing underfunded projects in that constituency. Existing projects
must be completed before the introduction of new ones.”
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