Before the vote: Questions over claims on Aguocha flyer

Apparently in response to calls for a scorecard of achievements, the media team of the member representing Ikwuano/Umuahia Federal Constituency, Obinna Aguocha, has released campaign banners highlighting projects and programmes attributed to the lawmaker.

Titled “The Man of the People”, the material lists several achievements, including solar street lights, solar-powered boreholes in Isingwu and Enume, road interventions across the constituency, erosion control projects, school rehabilitation, scholarship programmes involving more than 600 beneficiaries and the Federal Medical Centre, Ikwuano bill, which has passed both chambers of the National Assembly.

It is a substantial list, and constituents are entitled to ask how the projects were funded, which agencies implemented them and what specific role the lawmaker played in securing them.

There is nothing unusual about a lawmaker highlighting constituency projects ahead of an election. The issue is the extent to which each project can properly be attributed to the lawmaker and the role of government agencies in funding and implementing them.

In Nigeria’s federal system, infrastructure such as street lighting, boreholes, roads, erosion-control works and school projects may be funded through federal ministries, departments and agencies, intervention agencies such as the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), or other public and development programmes.

The flyer, however, does not appear to provide contract numbers, budget lines, commissioning dates, funding sources or implementing agencies for the individual infrastructure projects listed.

Providing those details would make it easier for constituents to independently verify the claims and understand the distinction between a project directly initiated or facilitated by a lawmaker and one implemented by a government agency within the constituency.

Some of the claims can be checked against public records.

For instance, the Federal Medical Centre, Ikwuano bill, HB 1605, is a matter of legislative record. Its sponsorship, consideration by the House of Representatives and Senate, and subsequent legislative stages can be verified through National Assembly records.

The same level of documentation would be useful for the infrastructure claims contained in the campaign material, including the assertion that between 2,500 and 3,000 solar street lights have been installed and the claim of solar-powered boreholes with overhead tanks.

For such claims, information such as the relevant appropriation, funding agency, contractor, project location, award date and commissioning details would provide a clearer basis for verification.

There are also questions about the attribution of projects that may have been undertaken through federal agencies.

For example, the school project at Nsiimo Central has been identified as part of an NDDC special intervention project in 2024. Similarly, projects in locations including Olokoro and Ibeku require clarification where they were implemented or funded through federal institutions such as the Federal Ministry of Works or the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC).

The existence of a federal project within Ikwuano/Umuahia does not, by itself, establish whether a particular lawmaker played a role in attracting, facilitating or securing it. Equally, the involvement of a federal agency does not, by itself, establish that a lawmaker had no role in bringing the project to the constituency.

That distinction is why documentation matters.

As the 2027 elections approach, voters in Ikwuano/Umuahia are entitled to ask for a documented account of projects attributed to their representatives.

A useful scorecard would identify each project, its location, funding source, implementing agency, contract or appropriation reference, date of implementation and, where applicable, the specific role played by the lawmaker’s office.

If a project was funded or implemented by the NDDC, a federal ministry, UBEC or another government agency, identifying the agency would provide greater clarity. Where the lawmaker facilitated the project through representation, lobbying or legislative intervention, that role can similarly be documented.

Hon. Aguocha’s team therefore has an opportunity to provide the supporting information behind the projects listed in the campaign material. Doing so would allow constituents to distinguish between projects directly facilitated by the lawmaker, projects implemented through federal agencies and programmes in which his office may have played a supporting role.

Voters in Ikwuano, Umuahia North and Umuahia South deserve a scorecard that can be independently checked against official records. The issue is not whether projects should be highlighted during an election season, but whether the claims made about them can be supported with clear and verifiable evidence.

By: Nwachuku Chikezie

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