Billions for Lawmakers, Pennies for the People: Nigerian Legislators Enrich Themselves Post-Subsidy Removal

 

Lawmakers Receive Billions for Constituency Projects Following Fuel Subsidy Removal, Lawmaker Reveals Budget Padding Culture

A shocking revelation by a serving Nigerian lawmaker has thrown fresh light on the deepening crisis of corruption, opacity, and impunity plaguing the country’s National Assembly. The unnamed federal legislator, speaking recently at a public event in Osun State, alleged that Senators and House of Representatives members have significantly increased the funds allocated to them for constituency projects—since the controversial removal of fuel subsidies by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

According to the legislator, every Nigerian Senator now receives no less than ₦2 billion for constituency projects, while their House of Representatives counterparts are handed a minimum of ₦1 billion each. This dramatic rise in allocations reportedly began shortly after the subsidy removal policy came into effect last year—a policy that has, by contrast, exacerbated economic hardship for millions of ordinary Nigerians.

The lawmaker’s candid remarks struck a nerve among the public, as they provided rare confirmation of what many Nigerians have long suspected: that the so-called constituency projects have evolved into a vehicle for massive budget padding and diversion of public funds.

During his address, the lawmaker emphasized that these funds are not personal contributions from legislators, but part of a growing allocation framework enabled by increased federal revenues post-subsidy. “I understand the functions of National Assembly members, and I want people to know that there is no honourable member—quote me anywhere; I am saying it publicly… who is getting constituency projects less than ₦1 billion,” he stated boldly.

Observers say this level of transparency is rare from within the corridors of the National Assembly, where lawmakers frequently shield budgetary details from public scrutiny. The legislator’s remarks have stirred outrage among Nigerians who are grappling with rising inflation, declining wages, and the deteriorating quality of public services.

A key justification for the removal of fuel subsidy was to free up public funds for investment in critical infrastructure and national development. However, this exposé suggests that much of those redirected funds are being rerouted into the opaque and often-abused domain of constituency projects—an arena already notorious for financial mismanagement, ghost contracts, and non-existent projects.

Since 1999, Nigeria’s federal lawmakers have collectively received trillions of naira under the guise of constituency development initiatives. Yet vast swaths of the country still suffer from chronic underdevelopment. Entire communities lack access to clean water, decent schools, functional health centers, or even passable roads.

Investigative reports, including previous findings by SaharaReporters, have consistently shown how these projects are routinely inflated, contracted to political cronies, or outright abandoned. The accountability mechanisms meant to track their execution are either weak or deliberately sabotaged. Meanwhile, lawmakers continue to project an image of servant leadership—falsely claiming to be champions of their constituencies, even as their pockets swell.

The whistleblowing legislator noted that the financial floodgates opened once state governors and the federal government began receiving increased revenue flows after subsidy removal. "Immediately they removed subsidy and our governor started getting more funds, the same thing became applicable to Senators and honourable members,” he explained.

The revelations call into question the broader governance framework under the Tinubu administration. Critics argue that if the post-subsidy financial surplus is being funneled into legislative pork-barrel projects, rather than national development or social investment programs, the policy’s intent is being fundamentally betrayed.

Nigeria currently ranks among the countries with the lowest public sector transparency scores globally, and this new testimony further highlights how entrenched patronage networks continue to manipulate the national budget for private gain.

As citizens continue to bear the brunt of increased fuel prices, food costs, and a general economic downturn, news that lawmakers are raking in billions of naira under the guise of constituency projects has further eroded public trust. Civil society groups are now calling for a full audit of all constituency allocations, and for mechanisms to trace whether these projects are ever executed—or if they remain, as many fear, another pipeline of waste and elite capture.

This latest disclosure adds another chapter to the story of Nigeria’s broken social contract: a state where elected representatives flourish while the masses endure.