Constituency Projects: Okpebholo Indicts Assembly

Edo State Governor, Okpebholo Felix, has criticized the House of Assembly for failing to execute constituency projects despite receiving funds from the executive. The governor explained the recent amendments to the Financial Autonomy Law of the State, the Assembly and the Judicial Autonomy Law, which were intended to promote transparency, accountability, and due process in managing state funds.

These changes were made following a visit by traditional rulers from the Esan South East Local Government Area, led by the Onojie of Ubiaja, Curtis Iredia Eidinojie I. Okpebholo stated that these amendments were crucial to prevent the people from being cheated, as no constituency projects had been executed since September 2025, even though funds had been allocated for such initiatives.

According to the governor, the House of Assembly is responsible for appropriating funds, but it cannot directly execute projects. He emphasized that the state has three independent branches of government, and the House should only appropriate funds, not carry out the executive's functions. The governor explained that substantial amounts of money had been going to constituency projects since last year, but they were not seeing the results.

With no accountability checks, he argued, it was impossible to trust any single individual with oversight without proper scrutiny. The amended law will now require constituency projects to be managed by relevant ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs), ensuring better monitoring and implementation.