Connected Development (CODE), through its Follow The Money movement, says it has tracked 23 constituency projects worth N1.2 billion in Kaduna State, northwest Nigeria.
The projects, according to the nonprofit, were tracked from January 2021 to date.
Speaking at a review meeting of its project tagged ‘Deepening Citizens’ Interest in Government Spending and Addressing Accompanying Corrupt Practices (DeSPAAC)’, founder of the organisation, Hamzat Lawal, said that 22 percent of the projects were still ongoing in the state.
A recent survey carried out by the Chartered Institute of Project Management of Nigeria revealed that there were around 56,000 abandoned government projects, estimated at N12 trillion, across the country.
In its reaction to the survey, the Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE) said that many contractors were unable to complete projects due to poor budget performance and failure to carry along community leaders.
Explaining his organisation’s project-tracking move in Kaduna State, Lawal said that the three-year project, supported by MacArthur Foundation, was designed to ensure effective citizen participation in the implementation of constituency projects.
He said that 23 constituency projects had been tracked across 18 communities in seven local government areas tied to the three senatorial districts that make up the state.
Lawal also said that CODE had provided young people a platform to engage the delivery of government projects in communities, adding that young people are using the Follow The Money movement to change the narrative.
‘These young people are implementing the solutions that affect grassroots people at the bottom of the pyramid and empowering community members to ask critical questions around constituency and other government projects’, he said.
Also speaking, the organisation’s Project Manager, Kingsley Agu, explained that out of N6.3 billion worth of constituency projects earmarked for tracking between 2021 and 2023, N3.5 billion was budgeted for projects in 2020 and N2.85 billion for 2021.
He said that the projects were tracked using community monitoring teams made up of community members who were empowered to track the delivery of projects in their respective communities.
‘There is also a collaboration with investigative journalists and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) under its constituency tracking initiative’, he said.
‘Other approaches include gender, equality, and social inclusion mainstreaming and leveraging on previous experience in tracking the delivery of Universal Basic Education projects in the state’.
Photo source: CODE/Jide Ojediran
