By Philip Yatai
The Connected Development (CODE) is strengthening the working synergy between lawmakers and constituents to ensure community participation in the selection and implementation of constituency projects in Kaduna State.
Ms Ruth Okafor, the Programme Officer, CODE, said this in Kaduna on Wednesday at a meeting with legislative aides, Community Monitoring Teams (CMTs) and government agencies on delivery of constituency projects.
The meeting was organised by CODE under its Deepening Citizens Interest in Government Spending and Addressing the Accompanying Corrupt Practices (DeSPAAC) project, being funded by MacArthur Foundation.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that CODE has empowered the CMTs, made up of critical community members to effectively provide oversight on constituency project implementation and ensure that projects reflect communities’ needs.
Okafor said that the objective of the meeting was to discuss on how to use the project nomination and monitoring tools to ensure community inputs in selection of constituency projects.
She said that CODE supported the development of the tools which the communities have been using to nominate projects, adding however that the tool was getting to the lawmakers to inform their constituency projects.
“We want the lawmakers to go through the tool and pick out key projects that will speak to the needs of the constituency that they represent.
“This will ensure community participation and strengthen transparency and accountability in the delivery of the projects,” she said.
Mr Samuel Yohanna, one of the legislative aides to Ahmed Mukhtar, representing Kaduna South Federal Constituency, commended CODE for working to ensure constituency project speaks to the need of communities.
Yohanna acknowledged that some of the constituency projects being implemented by lawmakers were deployed without the inputs of benefiting communities.
“Often times the community members were not engaged when deciding some of the projects and so had little or no idea about the project or what it intends to address.
“This is why some communities become hostile to some contractors implementing some of the projects, because their inputs and consent were not solicited,” he said.
The aide said that although his principal usually carries out needs assessment with community members on what constituency project to implement and location, there was a need to do more.
He pledged to facilitate a working synergy between the lawmaker and the CMTs for a robust use of the project nomination and tracking tools for constituency projects developed by CODE.
He also promised that at least 50 per cent of the beneficiaries of the lawmaker’s empowerment programmes would be selected for the State Social Register of poor and vulnerable households.
On his part, Mr Ambrose Awugu, one of the legislative aides to Shehu Garba, representing Jema’a/Sanga Federal Constituency, described the workshop as “critical”, in bridging the gap between communities and lawmakers.
Awugu said that considering that the lawmakers were often very busy, the legislative aides serve as the link between the communities and the lawmakers and pledged to work strongly with the CMTs.
“We have exchange contacts with the CMTs, and we will work towards a robust meeting with community leaders to see how best we can use the project nomination and monitoring tools,” he said.
CODE Team Lead in the state, Mr Abubakar Mohammed, said that the dialogue would strengthen partnership among stakeholders and increase awareness on the state’s Open Government Partnership.
Mohammed added that the meeting would help evaluate the performance of the nomination and monitoring tools and strengthen the flow of information between the implementing agencies, contractors and community stakeholders. (NAN)
