By Dayo Johnson Akure

A legal practitioner, who hails from Ondo North Senatorial District, Wale Obanigba, has said that the constituency handouts and empowerment programmes given out by Senator Jide Ipinsagba cannot replace constitutional duties.

Obanigba has therefore declared that the Senator has not demonstrated sufficient legislative impact to justify a second term.

In a statement issued and signed by him, Obanigba, a registered voter in the council area argued that constituency handouts and empowerment programmes cannot replace constitutional duties.

He said that the controversy over the senator’s performance followed his earlier article of February 14, in which he challenged what he described as a “stubborn misconception” that constituency projects and periodic empowerment schemes define legislative excellence.

According to him, the debate sparked reactions from Sola Ajisafe, Esq., who employed an “Amukun” analogy in defence of the senator, as well as from Ipinsagba’s aides who reeled out lists of constituency interventions as evidence of performance.

Obanigba said that none of the responses addressed what he termed the “constitutional test” of representation, maintaining that “empowerment is not lawmaking”

Citing provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the lawyer stressed that the primary responsibilities of a senator are lawmaking, oversight, and strategic federal representation — not the distribution of JAMB forms, fertilisers, or other ad hoc empowerment items.

Obanigba said that “Constituency projects are executive-funded insertions in appropriation, implemented by ministries and agencies. They are not proof of legislative excellence,”

He warned that equating such interventions with performance lowers the constitutional benchmark for representation.

The lawyer said the ongoing exchanges have raised fundamental democratic questions:“Where is the legislative imprint? Where is the committee-driven influence? Where is the measurable national consequence of representation?”

Obanigba noted that Senator Ipinsagba currently chairs the Senate Committee on Public Procurement and serves as Vice Chairman of Petroleum (Downstream) — positions he described as among the most consequential in the upper chamber.

“Where are the procurement reforms? Where are the downstream petroleum interventions? Where are the oversight breakthroughs that altered outcomes for Ondo North or Nigeria at large?” he queried.

He further questioned the implementation pathway and budgetary backing of the proposed ICT University frequently cited by the senator’s supporters, asking whether there is a traceable appropriation line and execution framework.

Drawing comparisons within the Ondo State caucus, Obanigba cited Senators Adeniyi Adegbomire and Jimoh Ibrahim as examples of lawmakers whose committee engagements and inter-parliamentary activities have generated visible national discourse and infrastructure conversations, saying, “influence is audible in plenary, traceable in committees, and legible in outcomes,” he said.

The lawyer pointed to the Owo–Ikare corridor, a critical economic artery in Ondo North, which he said remains largely unattended, alongside lingering security concerns in border communities.

He added that education infrastructure deficits persist despite the distribution of examination forms,arguing that “these are not solved by symbolism; they are solved by legislative leverage,”

Rejecting claims that systemic constraints excuse perceived performance gaps, Obanigba insisted that holding elective office confers agency and responsibility.

“If the system is flawed, the Senator’s duty is to contest it with skill — through coalitions, negotiations, amendments, oversight hearings and strategic bargaining.

” Silence or modest gestures presented as milestones cannot be recast as structural reform,” he stated.

Obanigba declaredthat re-election is not an entitlement but a mandate renewed on the strength of measurable impact.

“Re-election is earned by consequentiality — by a record that shows how power was used, not merely possessed,” he said.

He maintained that until there is a demonstrable legislative imprint defined by lawmaking visibility, oversight breakthroughs and strategic representation, “Senator Ipinsagba does not merit another term.