A civic tech organisation, MonITNG, has raised alarm over the deepening corruption in Nigeria’s constituency project system, accusing federal lawmakers of using empowerment schemes and solar streetlight projects to siphon over N100 billion annually.
In a statement issued Thursday, MonITNG founder, Uadamen Ilevbaoje, said the Zonal Intervention Projects (ZIPs)—originally designed to address rural development gaps—have been transformed into tools for “systemic abuse and misappropriation.”
“What started as a pathway to inclusive development has become a profiteering scheme for many lawmakers and their preferred contractors,” he said.
Tracing the origin of ZIPs to 1999 under President Olusegun Obasanjo, Ilevbaoje noted that the initiative now facilitates unchecked corruption and shields lawmakers from accountability. According to him, N100 billion is allocated yearly to the 469 members of the National Assembly for ZIPs across the country’s 774 local government areas.
Despite this huge allocation, he said, citizens are left with abandoned or substandard projects.
Ilevbaoje outlined how lawmakers initially focused on opaque “empowerment” initiatives—handouts, dubious training, and equipment distribution—before shifting to infrastructure projects like solar streetlights. These projects, often branded with lawmakers’ images, are costly, technically complex, hard to track, and frequently fail within months.
“The streetlight projects create an illusion of development while enabling inflated contracts. Lawmakers and contractors benefit, but the public gains little,” he said.
MonITNG also uncovered a trend of budget duplication, where lawmakers obtain funding for the same project through multiple frameworks. Ilevbaoje cited Project Code ZIP20240362 and ERGP5212175, both allocating a combined N171.5 million for similar cassava training programs in Bende, Abia State. Another project, ERGP2317360, earmarked N210 million for solar lights in Abia North.
“These duplications inflate budgets and deepen corruption,” Ilevbaoje warned, calling for urgent reforms and public accountability mechanisms.
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