Agora Policy, a policy think tank, has called for the reform of the Zonal Intervention Projects (ZIP), otherwise known as the constituency projects.
In a report published Monday, the organisation said inefficiencies, procedural violations, and corruption have trailed the implementation of the project scheme.
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It further noted that constituency projects have been transformed into tools of patronage, fiscal leakage, and legislative compromise, undermining governance integrity and national development priorities.
It, therefore, recommended that the scheme should be reformed to meet Nigeria’s development needs.
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Constituency Projects
Constituency Projects were introduced during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who led Nigeria from 1999 to 2007. They aim to ensure equity in the allocation of projects sited in the constituencies of federal lawmakers by various Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) of government in the federation’s budget.
The projects are designed to bridge developmental gaps in local communities, particularly in under-served rural areas.
To achieve this, N100 billion is allocated annually in the federal budget and distributed among lawmakers to execute projects in their constituencies for grassroots development.
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The federal government sets aside the money to finance constituency projects and ensure their implementation through the Office of the Special Adviser on Millennium Development Goals (SDGs), in agreement with lawmakers.
The N100 billion is shared between the Senate and the House of Representatives at a ratio of 40 per cent to 60 per cent, respectively.
The ranking status of the 109-member Senate is considered when sharing the fund. The presiding officers and principal officers of the National Assembly are expected to get a larger ZIP allocation.
The Senate has two presiding officers: the Senate President and the Deputy Senate President. There are eight principal officers, with the majority party, All Progressive Congress (APC), having four and the minority parties having four.
The principal officers are the senate leader, deputy senate leader, chief whip and deputy chief whip. Others are minority leader, deputy minority leader, minority whip and deputy minority whip.
The same sharing formula applies to the 360-member House of Representatives, which has the same number of presiding and principal officers.
However, former President Obasanjo, under whose administration the constituency projects initiative began, once described it as nothing but corruption. Mr Obasanjo spoke in 2017 at the two-day investments forum in Niger State.
In 2019, former President Muhammadu Buhari also criticised the implementation of the scheme, noting that despite trillions spent, there was little to show for it.
Speaking at the National Summit on Diminishing Corruption in Public Service organised by the ICPC and the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Buhari said the report of the commission on constituency projects confirmed the fears that people at the grassroots had not benefited from the huge money that the National Assembly members had collected for the projects.
Criticisms from the report
In its report, Agora Policy identified five core flaws in the conceptualisation, budgeting, and implementation of constituency projects. These include legislators’ procedural overreach, corruption and lack of transparency, misallocation of federal resources, budgetary distortions and misalignment, and legislative ineffectiveness.
Procedural overreach by legislators
The organisation said federal lawmakers have repeatedly breached the constitutional boundary that separates budget initiation from approval.
It said that while the National Assembly is empowered to review and approve budgets, legislators now routinely insert projects not contained in the original appropriation bills submitted by the executive. This dual role of initiating and approving budgets, it noted, contradicts the doctrine of separation of powers fundamental to Nigeria’s presidential system.
Corruption and lack of transparency
The think tank said ZIPs have evolved into opaque funding streams for legislators, who often select projects, influence budget allocations, determine implementing MDAs, and even handpick contractors.
The report draws on findings from the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), which has uncovered abandoned, substandard, and non-existent projects. Between 2019 and 2022, the ICPC reportedly recovered over N2.8 billion and linked such to fraudulent constituency project implementations.
Misallocation of federal resources
Agora Policy said that rather than address development needs, many legislators focus on fragmented, localised micro-projects such as boreholes, streetlights, and town hall renovations.
It further stated that these are functions best handled by local and state governments. For instance, in the 2025 budget, the National Assembly inserted 1,477 streetlight projects worth N393.29 billion and 538 borehole projects worth N114.53 billion.
Budgetary distortions and misalignment
The report also criticised the project for distortion of national budgetary provisions.
It said that the legislative inclusion of improperly located projects distorts the national budget. A glaring case is the allocation of N320.74 billion in projects to the Federal Cooperative College, Oji River, despite its limited capacity.
Similarly, it said the Ministry of Science and Technology’s capital budget increased from N69.2 billion, which the executive proposed, to over N1.06 trillion after legislative adjustments.
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Legislative ineffectiveness
The organisation stated that the approach to constituency projects potentially weakens the effectiveness of the legislative arm of government.
It said constituency projects had compromised the legislature’s oversight function, adding that many lawmakers now prioritise ZIP allocations for electoral advantage rather than focusing on checks and balances.
Recommendations
Agora Policy recommended replacing the current ZIP model with a Strategic Intervention Projects (SIPs) or a Constituency Projects Scheme (CPS) coordinated by the executive for effective constituency projects.
It also recommended that the executive branch retain exclusive rights to initiate, design, cost, and include constituency projects in the federal budget. However, it said lawmakers may recommend projects but not insert them independently into appropriation bills.
The organisation proposed the establishment of a portal for tracking project locations, contractors, fund releases, and completion status.
It also recommended publishing annual performance audits and impact assessments.
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