Constituency projects, originally envisioned as vital avenues for lawmakers to connect with and serve their constituents, are statutorily embedded within the National Assembly's budget due to their perceived importance. However, over the years, these projects have become synonymous with controversy, inefficiency, and pervasive corruption, yielding minimal tangible impact on communities. Conceived as developmental tools to channel federal funds to specific geopolitical spaces, the underlying idea was that federal lawmakers, being representatives of particular areas, would possess the best understanding of their constituents' needs, thereby enabling them to design projects that accurately meet local priorities. A more pragmatic, self-preserving motivation also existed: in a political landscape where elected officials are often judged by physical projects, regardless of their executive or legislative roles, these initiatives provide lawmakers with visible evidence of effective representation crucial for re-election campaigns.

Regrettably, much like many public funding mechanisms lacking stringent regulation, constituency projects have fallen prey to extensive abuses. Various investigative reports, including a recent exposé by Agora Policy, a respected Nigerian think tank, have meticulously detailed the systemic flaws inherent in the constitutional and institutional frameworks governing these projects. With constituency projects now accounting for a staggering ₦6.93 trillion, or 2.6 percent of Nigeria's ₦54.99 trillion federal budget for 2025, there is an urgent imperative to critically re-evaluate this concept. This assessment is essential to prevent lawmakers and their collaborators from continuing to exploit these projects as vast conduits for fleecing the national treasury on an immense scale.

In Nigeria's presidential system, the executive arm is constitutionally mandated to initiate and implement the budget once appropriated, while the legislature's role is to review, approve, and oversee project implementation to ensure adherence to approved plans. This arrangement exemplifies the principle of separation of powers and checks and balances, foundational tenets of democratic and federal systems. Unfortunately, these principles are frequently disregarded. Legislators routinely usurp the executive's role by inserting their preferred projects directly into the federal budget and subsequently influencing their implementation, often through proxies and relatives. The consequences of this legislative overreach have been dire, leading to a proliferation of projects in the federal budget—such as streetlights, boreholes, and even renovations of traditional rulers' palaces worth billions of naira—that should rightfully fall under the purview of local councils or state authorities.

For instance, the 2025 budget conspicuously lists 1,477 streetlight projects valued at ₦393.29 billion and 538 borehole projects worth ₦114.53 billion. Many of these initiatives suffer from a complete absence of proper planning or sustainable maintenance strategies. Consequently, a significant number of these projects are never undertaken, while those that commence often remain incomplete, thereby exacerbating the country's ignominious