Judge Orders Nigerian Parliament to Report Constituency Payments

8 April 2015

A Nigerian Federal High Court judge has ordered the National Assembly to disclose details of budgetary allocations made to individual legislators for physical projects and the details of the progress of the projects.

Justice Abdu Kafarati issued the ruling in response to a of Information suit filed by the a nongovernmental organization, the Legal Defence and Assistance Project (LEDAP).

The court in February directed the Clerk of the National Assembly to reveal in seven days information about the so-called Constituency Projects between 2011 and 2013.

The clerk has not complied, reported The Premium Times, indicating he had no knowledge of the payments and referring LEDAP to the ministry of finance. “But the judge insisted that the National Assembly should provide all the information regarding Constituency Projects and how they are funded,” the newspaper reported.

The article said, “Lawmakers are believed to receive huge sums, running into tens of millions, as Constituency Allowance every quarter.”

According to another article, in The Daily Independent, the clerk has filed a notice of appeal against the judgment.

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