The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), on Thursday called on communities in Osun to speak out on any abandoned constituency projects undertaken by lawmakers in their areas.
The ICPC Chairman, Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, made this known during a town hall meeting on “My Constituency, My Project, ”organised by ICPC in collaboration with the National Orientation Agency (NOA), in Osogbo on Thursday.
Owosanoye, represented by the Commissioner in charge of Osun, Ondo, and Ekiti, Mr Shuaibu Alaro, said that communities must learn to alert government officials on poor projects in their constituency in order to hold their representatives accountable.
”Constituency projects are not donations by the legislators representing them, but it is the right of the communities from the government representing them.
“Your representatives in the legislature who select constituency projects do so because they are closer to you, and it is expected that they understand your needs,” he said.
The ICPC boss noted that the commission would continue to track community projects to ensure they were not only developed and implemented by the executive arm of government but to specifications.
”We will not relent in ensuring that projects are developed and implementation done, which is evidence that government means well for the people.
“It is through these projects that government touches the lives of its citizens.
”Projects are not gifts or donations by political representatives, but rather they are fruits of national resources and government responsibility to the people.
”Communities must change their perceptions by learning to protect, monitor, and report projects within their confines to avoid all fraudulent or unwholesome acts regarding the projects,” he said.
The Director-General of NOA, Mr Garba Abari, said the main focus of the agency especially in the century was to see how the vehicle of development could be made to deliver the desired gains to the people.
Abari, represented by the NOA Director in Osun, Mrs Yomi Olaseyinde, said community ownership would ensure that legislators, other officials and government were alerted when there was poor execution of projects.
”This is the base for the new partnership between the agency and the ICPC,” Abari stated.
He added that the new template advocated under the new partnership was for the people to own the entire process from conception to execution.(NAN)
