A lawmaker has made yet another shocking revelation about budget padding, noting that after Tinubu removed the controversial fuel subsidy, senators now pocket at least N2 billion and representatives N1 billion in “constitutional projects”.
He affirmed that they currently receive an astounding amount of public funding for so-called “constituency projects,”
He asserted that members of the House of Representatives now receive at least N1 billion apiece, while no senator in the nation today receives less than N2 billion.
The lawmaker, whose name has not been ascertained, disclosed this at a recent public gathering in Osun State while addressing members of his constituency in an amateur video which is now making the rounds.
His statement has ignited fresh outrage over the deepening culture of corruption, impunity, and opaque spending in Nigeria’s legislative arm.
He said, “I understand the functions of National Assembly members, and I want people to know that there is no honourable member quote me anywhere; I am saying it publicly. We have nine honourable members from Osun State. There has been no honourable member since Tinubu’s inauguration who is getting constituency projects less than N1 billion. Before, it was not up to that. The increment started last year.”
He claimed that the budget increase came after President Bola Tinubu’s administration eliminated fuel subsidies. This action has put millions of Nigerians through unheard-of agony while also enriching political elites.
“Immediately they removed the subsidy, and our governor started getting more funds; the same thing became applicable to Senators and honourable members,” he said. “If a House of Representatives member is doing some projects, don’t think he is using his personal fund.”
The lawmaker went on to stress that “Now, there is no Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria with constituency projects less than N2 billion.”
This discovery stands in stark contrast to the public persona that politicians frequently present when they say they are fighting for their constituents. In fact, they oversee extravagant expenditures that are cloaked in secret and carry out mostly untraceable or abandoned initiatives under the pretence of local development.
As previously reported by SaharaReporters, constituency projects have turned into one of the most exploited ways to embezzle public funds, with contracts being given to friends, exaggerated, or abandoned.
Sometimes projects are poorly done and have little real impact, or they are ghost initiatives.
Many areas in Nigeria are still living in extreme poverty and lack access to basic amenities like water, schools, and health centres, even though they have received trillions of naira for these initiatives since democracy returned in 1999.
While ordinary Nigerians continue to struggle with the soaring cost of living, crippling inflation, and poor service delivery, lawmakers are enjoying fat allocations with zero transparency.
