NASS spent N1.3trn in 10 years without records – CSOs

Some Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) under the aegis of OpenNASS Project have accused the National Assembly of spending N1.3 trillion allocated to it between 2006 and 2016 with no records to show how the monies were spent.
The CSOs said it was a great concern to Nigerians that members of NASS do not know the content of their budget, yet they hold court over how the budget of the country was spent.
Addressing a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday, Dan Nengel, programme officer, Enough is Enough, said lack of accountability in the National Assembly was dangerous to Nigeria’s democracy.
“Lack of accountability in the National Assembly is very dangerous for democracy because those who are elected to provide oversight over executive arm’s implementation of our budget cannot be expected to provide leadership and ensure accountability when they have refused to be accountable with resources allocated to them.
“Over the last three years, the National Assembly has refused to respond to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests and a court order to provide its detailed budget. The National Assembly was recently taken to court by SERAP for failing to respond to an FOI request about its running cost,” Nengel said.
He said public auditing of spending by the National Assembly and several reports on allegations of corruption that had been investigated remain shrouded in secrecy, adding that OpenNASS would increase its engagement with Nigerians and possibly take action to make NASS accountable.
According to the CSOs, a survey has been done to gauge the levels of civic education of citizens and their preferred medium of communication for the purpose of engaging them to hold the legislative arm of government accountable.
“Nigerians are very politically engaged with only 4% of respondents on average reporting that they do not care about political news. There is higher political apathy amongst those with no education, with 23% stating they do not care about political news, versus 3% of more educated d respondents.
“There is a huge opportunity here to educate those with little to no education on the importance of good governance to build momentum for change. Political apathy is highest with 10%, among respondents who fall below 17 years and lowest, 0%, among persons 56 years above.”
According to the group, radio has remained a crucial way of reaching people, informing that the organisation has used the medium to get across to vast audience as well as garner support to their activities.