The Office of the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives has strongly pushed back against allegations raised by civic accountability organization, TrackNG, regarding the construction and furnishing of an ultra-modern conference and e-learning facility at Bende, Abia State.
In a comprehensive rejoinder issued on Friday by the Deputy Speaker’s Special Assistant on Press Affairs, Udora Orizu, the legislative office described the civic group’s publication as “misleading, curious, and politically motivated.” The statement sought to draw a firm constitutional line between the project-attraction mandate of lawmakers and the procurement powers of executive ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs).
The Core of the Contention
The controversy stems from a 2024 Federal Government budget provision intended for the establishment of a state-of-the-art ICT and e-learning hub in Bende Federal Constituency—the home constituency of the Deputy Speaker, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu. TrackNG had flagged the project, raising queries regarding its physical execution, alleged misallocation, and structural transparency.
Reacting to the report, Orizu stated that while the office would typically ignore unverified online narratives, it felt compelled to set the record straight to prevent public distortion of the legislative process.
“In Nigeria’s democratic governance structure, legislators are strictly responsible for identifying and attracting development projects to their respective constituencies based on the needs of their people,” the statement read. “However, the actual implementation, contract awarding, financial disbursement, and supervisory duties rest entirely within the purview of the executive arm of government and its relevant procurement agencies.”
The Deputy Speaker’s office took exception to what it termed the “mischievous” inclusion of Benjamin Kalu’s official photograph in the civic group’s report, noting that such framing wrongly implies direct financial or administrative involvement in contract management.
Location Discrepancies and Clarifications
Addressing the specific issue of the project’s site location, which TrackNG had heavily questioned, the Deputy Speaker’s media team revealed that an administrative error occurred during the initial drafting of the project coordinates in the federal budget.
The budget line had originally cited the Bende Secondary Grammar School as the beneficiary site. However, the statement clarified that this was an oversight, as the institution in question is already equipped with a fully operational ICT center.
According to the clarification, the ultra-modern facility was originally intended for Onuinyang. To rectify the discrepancy, a formal corrigendum (official correction mechanism) had already been issued to the appropriate federal procurement agency to realign the location with the project blueprint before TrackNG’s public call-out.
A Call for Independent Probe
Rather than shying away from scrutiny, the Deputy Speaker’s office threw down the gauntlet to federal anti-graft and regulatory watchdogs. The statement explicitly called on the relevant procuring authority to launch a thorough investigation into the contract’s current status.
“Our primary and overriding interest is to ensure that the people of Bende Federal Constituency receive the maximum benefit of this federal project,” Orizu concluded. “We urge the appropriate government agencies to hold whoever was awarded this contract strictly accountable under the provisions of the law, ensuring due process is followed to the letter.”
As of Friday night, TrackNG had not issued a counter-response to the clarifications provided by the National Assembly leadership.
