Ekiti speaker rejects constituency allowance for lawmakers
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ABIODUN NEJO 10/08/2011 01:41:00
image Gov. Kayode Fayemi, Ekiti State Govermor

The Ekiti State House of Assembly Speaker, Dr Adewale Omirin, yesterday supported execution of projects by the executive arm of government.

He said it was criminal for any governor to pay money into the personal accounts of lawmakers, under the guise of Constituency Allowance, saying only the executive had the constitutional powers to execute projects. Omirin said yesterday in Ado Ekiti, the state capital, that constituency projects was not scrapped by Governor Kayode Fayemi, but remodeled so that projects to be executed by the 26 members of the Assembly would come directly from the budgetary allocations.

The speaker, who said lawmakers’ statutory role was lawmaking, lamented that asking legislators to execute constituency projects had resulted in avalanche of uncompleted projects with the funds diverted. He said: “We are elected to make laws for our people, not to scramble for execution of projects. This is the best way democracy can develop.” Omirin added that the House and Fayemi would partner in project execution, which he said the governor would only provide the funding, with the lawmakers specifying the preferred projects in their respective constituencies. The speaker said lawmakers also had the mandate to supervise projects and ensure compliance with specification.