By Henry Umoru

ABUJA— AN audit report, weekend, alleged widespread fraud in the handling of over N100 billion constituency projects fund by senators and members of the House of Representatives in the last three years.

The report also called for immediate scrapping of the constituency projects fund, adding that the executive should rather handle such projects.

According to the report, funds for constituency projects are not only shrouded in secrecy but also allegedly diverted by some lawmakers.

Former President Goodluck Jonathan had in a move then, transferred the implementation of constituency projects to the Ministry of Special Duties.

The allegations by the report came barely two weeks after former President Olusegun Obasanjo accused the National Assembly of still running a secret budget.

The report of the survey which was conducted in 2015 by the Media Support Centre and made available to journalists in Abuja, yesterday, also exposed large scale abuse of  projects by the 469 federal lawmakers.

Executive Director of the Media Support Centre, Mr Wale Fatade, who told journalists in Abuja  that the polls covered over N100 billion appropriated for the constituency projects for period of 2013 to 2015, said:  “It would appear nobody but the lawmakers know which projects are being executed with these monies and how much each costs.

“Our recent survey shows that a majority of Nigerians are not aware of the presence of these projects and mostly are calling for a reform.

“They either want the whole thing cancelled outrightly or that the lawmakers bring more clarity and openness to the process by publishing what each lawmakers get and for which project so that Nigerians could track these projects.”

According to him, over 78 per cent of Nigerians voted for immediate scrapping of the constituency project to reduce corruption.

He said: “In 2015, the Media Support Centre conducted a series of polls to judge the reaction of Nigerians to the allowances that members of the national and state legislatures collect for executing ‘constituency projects’.”