A member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yusuf Gagdi, has revealed that President Bola Tinubu has slashed the ₦1 billion constituency project allocation for each federal lawmaker by half, citing funding challenges in the 2025 budget.
In a viral video circulating on social media, Gagdi, who represents Pankshin, Kanke, and Kanam Federal Constituency of Plateau State in the House of Representatives, was seen explaing to a group of people that contrary to public perception, federal lawmakers do not personally receive constituency project funds.
“Our parliamentary order differs from that of the State Assembly because no federal legislator receives constituency project funds,” Gagdi clarified. “The only thing we receive is a ₦1billion envelope for constituency projects that is shared among all the legislators from a state.”
He further broke down the distribution pattern, noting that the amount varies from state to state depending on the number of federal lawmakers.
“For instance, in Kano, the ₦1 billion envelope is shared among 27 legislators. In Plateau, we are only eight members, so each of us gets ₦125 million worth of projects,” he said. “As a legislator, I am required to bring projects that will be funded up to that amount.”
Gagdi emphasised that any other developmental projects seen in constituencies were often the result of lobbying ministries and agencies for additional interventions.
“I have never received constituency projects worth more than ₦125 million until this year when the President increased the intervention from ₦125 million to ₦1 billion per House member,” he added. “Senators were allocated ₦2 billion worth of constituency projects each.”
The lawmaker disclosed that despite the passage of the 2025 Appropriation Act, no capital project funds had been released to either the Executive or the National Assembly as of yet.
“It was only last week that Mr. President reached out to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, saying that the 2025 budget cannot be funded,” Gagdi stated. “Then Mr. President reduced our constituency intervention project from ₦1 billion to ₦500 million.”