By Ayodele Abere
Justice Development and Peace Initiative (JDPI) of the Catholic Diocese of Ekiti State and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Ekiti State Council, have described the system of democracy being practiced in Nigeria as Participation Through Representation.
This was made known by the JDPI Director in Ekiti State, Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Akingbade, on Tuesday while presenting report on the performances of the National Assembly Members, representing Ekiti Central Senatorial District of Ekiti State, at the NUJ Secretariat, Ado-Ekiti, the State capital.
In a report co-signed by the State JDPI Director, Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Akingbade and the Chairman, Nigeria Union of Journalists, Comrade Kayode Babatuyi, among others recommended that, every representative of a people needs to put a clearly defined methodology in place as regards how he connects with the people he represents in an inclusive manner.
Adding that nominated projects for a constituency must align with the needs of the people of the constituency, and that collective efforts can achieve responsive and responsible governance saying electorates should continue to ask their representatives questions.
The Report:
CITIZENS’ WATCH REPORT PRESENTED BY JDPI IN COLLABORATION WITH THE NUJ ON THE PERFORMANCES OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY MEMBERS REPRESENTING EKITI CENTRAL OF EKITI STATE ON 1ST OF JULY, 2025
Introduction
Citizens’ Watch Programme is an activity of the Justice Development and Peace Initiative (JDPI) of the Catholic Diocese of Ekiti in collaboration with the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Ekiti Council on holding governments accountable to the people. By the virtue of the type of democracy operational in Nigeria, which is participation through representation, the representatives of the people in governments are expected to connect with the people they represent.
This report is on the representatives of the people of Ekiti Central in the National Assembly in the persons of Hon. Olusola Steve Fatoba, representing Ado/Irepodun-Ifelodun Federal Constituency I, Hon. Biodun Francis Omoleye, representing Ijero/Ekiti West/Efon Federal Constituency II, and Senator Michael Opeyemi Bamidele, representing Ekiti Central Senatorial District comprising of Ado, Irepodun/Ifelodun, Ekiti West, Efon, and Ijero LGAs.
A team of 7 persons was dispatched to the district to randomly interview the people concerning their rating of their representatives as well as the Federal Government projects nominated for execution in their district. On the whole, 200 persons were randomly interviewed on one-on-one basis, and their responses were carefully collated and analysed with Pivot Table, and interpreted using Likert Scale tool. The report of this exercise is here below presented.
A. On Senator Michael Opeyemi Bamidele (MOB):
200 persons were randomly interviewed – 108 were women (54%) and 92 were men (46%). 48% of the interviewed persons were Farmers/Traders/Artisans, 24% were Self Employed/Private Sector Employed, 13% were Civil Servants/Public Officers/Government Employed, 7% were Traditional Rulers/Clergies/Retirees, 4% were unemployed, and another 4% were students. In terms of political affiliation, 82% of the interviewed do not belong to any political party. Their responses were as follow:
Awareness and accessibility of the people to the representative – 79% of respondents know the Senator representing the district. However, 84% do not know whether the Senator has a constituency office.
Engagement with the constituents – 63% of the people interviewed said that the Senator has not held any town hall meeting with the people of the district. On the question of whether the Senator has at any time interacted with the people of the district to explain any policy of the government to them, 72% responded in the negative. On closeness to the people of his senatorial district, he was rated fair, however, in terms of overall performance, they rated him 4 over 6.
Peoples’ awareness of the Federal Government’s constituency projects for the Senatorial District – When asked on whether the respondents in the senatorial district were aware of any constituency project initiated in the district by the Senator, 53.2% of the 200 respondents answered in the affirmative.
B. On Hon. Olusola Steve Fatoba:
A total number of 85 persons were randomly interviewed, 40% of whom were men and 60% were women; 43% were Farmers/Traders/Artisans, 19% were Civil Servants/Public Officers/Government Employed, 19% were Self Employed/Private Sector Employed, 5% were Traditional Rulers/Clergies/Retirees, 8% were unemployed, and 5% were students. 78% of the interviewed do not belong to any political party. Their responses were as follow:
Awareness and accessibility of the people to the representative – 68% of respondents know the Honourable. However, 91% do not know whether he has a constituency office.
Engagement with the constituents – 78% of the people interviewed did not know whether he has held any town hall meeting with the people of the constituency. On the question of whether he has at any time interacted with the people of the constituency to explain any policy of the government to them, 90% responded in the negative. On closeness to the people of his constituency, he was rated poor. In terms of overall performance, they rated him 3 over 6.
Peoples’ awareness of the Federal Government’s Projects for the Constituency – When asked on whether the respondents were aware of any constituency project initiated in their constituency by the Honourable, 78.3% of the respondents were not aware.
C. On Hon. Biodun Francis Omoleye:
A total number of 115 persons were randomly interviewed, 42% of whom were men and 58% were women; 51% were Farmers/Traders/Artisans, 7% were Civil Servants/Public Officers/Government Employed, 28% were Self Employed/Private Sector Employed, 8% were Traditional Rulers/Clergies/Retirees, 1% were unemployed, and 3% were students. 85% of the interviewed do not belong to any political party. Their responses were as follow:
Awareness and accessibility of the people to the representative – 51% of respondents know the Honourable. However, 99% do not know whether he has a constituency office.
Engagement with the constituents – 97% of the people interviewed did not know whether he has held any town hall meeting with the people of the constituency. On the question of whether he has at any time interacted with the people of the constituency to explain any policy of the government to them, 94% responded in the negative. On closeness to the people of his constituency, he was rated very poor, and in terms of overall performance, they rated him 2 over 6.
Peoples’ awareness of the constituency projects implemented in the Constituency – When asked on whether the respondents were aware of any constituency project initiated in their constituency by the Honourable, 83% of the people interviewed were not aware.
D. On the Federal Projects for the Constituencies in Year 2024:
https://tracka.ng/infographic. Also, the spending and daily payment report of the Federal Government is available to the public via this link https://www.govspend.ng/. From these sources,
The projects nominated by elected representatives for their constituencies and the amount allocated are published by Tracka, and can be accessed via this link 2
we found the Federal Government Projects nominated by the elected representatives under consideration for year 2024 as follows:
Ado/Irepodun-Ifelodun Federal Constituency I
1. SUPPLY AND INSTALLATION OF TRANSFORMERS IN ADO/IREPODUN- IFELODUN FEDERAL CONSTITUENCY (₦40,000,000.00)
2. SUPPLY AND INSTALLATION OF SOLAR STREET LIGHTS IN ADO/IREPODUN- IFELODUN FEDERAL CONSTITUENCY (₦56,000,000.00)
3. MEDICAL OUTREACH FOR YOUTHS, WOMEN AND AGED PEOPLE IN IREPODUN/IFELODUN AND ADO LGAs OF EKITI STATE (₦250,000,000.00)
Ijero/Ekiti West/Efon Federal Constituency II
1. STRATEGIC EMPOWERMENT FOR ARTISANS IN IJERO/ EFON/ EKITI WEST FEDERAL CONSTITUENCY (₦95,000,000.00)
2. MEDICAL OUTREACH FOR YOUTHS, WOMEN, AND AGED PEOPLE IN IJERO. EFON AND EKITI WEST LGAS OF EKITI STATE (₦250,000,000.00)
3. CAPACITY BUILDING FOR YOUTHS AND WOMEN IN IJERO/ EFON/EKITI-WEST FEDERAL CONSTITUENCY (₦50,000,000.00)
4. TRAINING AND EMPOWERMENT FOR DISABLED STUDENTS OF GOVERNMENT SPECIAL SCHOOL AT IKORO-EKITI FEDERAL CONSTITUENCY (₦25,000,000.00)
Ekiti Central Senatorial District.
1. SUPPLY OF EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS TO STUDENTS IN SELECTED SCHOOLS IN EKITI CENTRAL SENATORIAL DISTRICT, EKITI STATE (₦200,000,000.00)
2. PROVISION OF AGRIC AND FARM INPUTS FOR COOPERATIVES IN ADO, EFON, AND EKITI WEST LGAs OF EKITI CENTRAL SENATORIAL DISTRICT, EKITI STATE (₦250,000,000.00)
3. PROCUREMENT OF AGRIC INPUTS AND EMPLOYMENT OF FARMERS IN EKITI CENTRAL SENATORIAL DISTRICT, EKITI STATE (₦200,000,000.00)
4. PROVISION OF AGRIC FOOD FARM INPUTS AND EMPOWERMENT FOR YOUTHS AND WOMEN IN EKITI CENTRAL SENATORIAL DISTRICT, EKITI STATE (₦232,000,000.00)
5. PROVISION OF AGRIC AND FARM INPUTS FOR COOPERATIVES IN IREPODUN/IFELODUN AND IJERO LGAs OF EKITI CENTRAL SENATORIAL DISTRICT, EKITI STATE (₦218,000,000.00)
6..CAPACITY BUILDING TRAINING AND SUPPLY OF SEWING MACHINES, BLOCK MOULDING MACHINES, CASSAVA GRINDING MACHINES AND PEPPER GRINDING MACHINE FOR ARTISANS IN SELECTED AREAS OF EKITI CENTRAL SENATORIAL DISTRICT (₦222,000,000.00)
7. GRANTS FOR UNEMPLOYED YOUTHS AND WOMEN IN SELECTED AREAS OF EKITI CENTRAL SENATORIAL DISTRICT, EKITI STATE (₦150,000,000.00).
Our findings from the interviewed people on the projects.
On Supply and installation of transformers in Ado/Irepodun-Ifelodun Constituency – We found from our respondents that transformers were supplied to Iyin, Igede, and Iworoko, though the people of Iworoko Ekiti said that the transformer supplied to their community has been installed but not yet energized by BEDC.
On supply and installation of solar street lights in Ado/Irepodun-Ifelodun Constituency – We found that solar street lights have been installed in so many areas of the Constituency. One of our respondents in Iyin Ekiti said that it is now hard to differentiate between day and night in the town as a result of the solar lights installed. We noted from our research on the spending and daily payment report of the Federal Government that a lot of payments was made to the following institutions for supply and installation of solar street lights in Ado and Irepodun/Ifelodun LGAs:
i) JOTAFAB RESOURCES LTD which received a 30% mobilization fee of ₦10,815,445.70 on 11th October 2023 and another payment of ₦25,236,040.07 on 29th December 2023 for Provision and Installation of Solar Street Lights in Irepodun/Ifelodun LGA, Ado Ekiti.
ii) YAFTAHA ENGINEERING LIMITED which was paid ₦85,632,524.72 on 22nd December 2023 for Provision and Installation of Solar Street Lights in Ado-Ekiti, Irepodun/Ifelodun Federal Constituency.
iii) MUESTHER UNIQUE GLOBAL CONSTRUCTION SERVICES LTD which was paid ₦335,799,943.74 on 18th November 2024 for Installation of Solar Street Lights across Ado-Ekiti/Irepodun/Ifelodun and some other constituencies outside Ekiti.
iv) HALSWAY CONSULTING LTD which received ₦8,118,673.65 on 9th December 2024 for Provision of Solar Street Lights in Igede, Ekiti.
v) AMAGISHA NIGERIA LIMITED which was paid ₦461,230,435.97 on 2nd March 2024 for Emergency Installation of Solar Street Lights in Awo-Ekiti, Ekiti State.
vi) ACUTE OPTIONS LIMITED which was paid ₦429,595,562.97 on 12th December 2025 for Construction and Installation of 1200 Lumens Mono-Crystalline Panel Solar Street Lights with Lithium-Ion Battery along Surulere/Olorunsogo Street, Adebayo Lane, Ado Ekiti.
vii) G.U. EBECO INDUSTRIES LIMITED which received ₦15,823,654.07 on 8th November 2024 for Provision and Installation of Solar Street Lights at Iworoko Bridge Carriageway (RHS & LHS), Ekiti State.
viii) SUBON GLOBAL LIMITED which was paid ₦8,698,844.65 on 15th December 2023 for Provision and Installation of Street Lights on Oloruntedo Street, Afao Ekiti.
ix) AIZA GLOBAL LIMITED which was paid ₦7,704,488.57 on 9th December 2023 for Solar Street Lights on Deji Fasuan Street, off Afao Road, Elemi District, Ado Ekiti.
x) SPEED SERVICES LTD which received ₦63,169,754.19 on 6th September 2024 for Construction of 59 Solar Street Lights in Iyin Ekiti.
xi) PENG-WEST LTD which was paid ₦8,387,891.86 on 1st November 2024 for Installation of Solar Street Lights in Ajebamidele, Ekiti State.
xii) RITESIM AFRICA LIMITED which received ₦340,824,678.70 on 22nd February 2024 for Construction and Rehabilitation of 1KM Road with Solar Street Lights, Drainage, Culvert, and Grading of Adjoining Road at Ile-Ileri Street, Jehovah Witness, Opopogbooro, Ado Ekiti.
There were no indications on majority of the street lights found in the Constituency to show under which project they have been installed.
On medical outreach for youths, women and aged people in Irepodun/Ifelodun and Ado LGAs – we found from the residents that this was done.
On strategic empowerment for artisans in Ijero/Efon/Ekiti West Federal Constituency – We found from some of the interviewed persons in the Constituency that some empowerment items like hair dryers, motorcycles, and refrigerators were distributed in some areas of the Constituency. One of our respondents in the Constituency confirmed to us that he received a deep freezer under an empowerment programme carried out in the Constituency.
On medical outreach for youths, women, and aged people in Ijero, Efon and Ekiti West LGAs – We found from majority of the interviewed persons in the Constituency that the only medical outreach that was carried out in their communities was done under IMMUNIZATION PLUS AND MALARIA PROGRESS BY ACCELERATING COVERAGE AND TRANSFORMING SERVICES (IMPACT) programme, a World Bank project.
On capacity building for youths and women in Ijero/Efon/Ekiti West Federal Constituency – We found that a capacity building event took place in Aramoko Ekiti where selected persons from the Constituency were taught on the art of Adire making.
On training and empowerment for disabled students of Government Special School at Ikoro Ekiti – We visited the school, and we were told the school was empowered with 150 new matrasses, 150 pillows, and 150 slippers.
On supply of educational materials to students in selected schools in Ekiti Central Senatorial District – We found from all the government schools we visited that learning materials like school bags, mathematical sets, and books were given to their students.
On provision of agric and farm inputs for cooperatives in Ado, Efon, and Ekiti West LGAs – We found that tractors were shared, and each LGA received 2 tractors. We learnt that the tractors were to be taken to the LGA offices with no clear information on how the farmers will access them.
On capacity building training and supply of sewing machines, block moulding machines, cassava grinding machines, and pepper grinding machine for artisans in selected areas of Ekiti Central Senatorial District – We found from some of the people interviewed that sewing machines and pepper grinding machines were shared to some people in the district.
On grants for unemployed youths and women in selected areas of Ekiti Central Senatorial District – We found that many market women were empowered with N100,000 each, though there was an allegation that the beneficiaries were considered more based on political affiliation. We equally found that some youths were empowered with items such as motorcycles, freezers, and other materials.
Recommendations and Conclusion
The system of democracy we practice in Nigeria is ‘Participation Through Representation’. This practice requires back-and-forth at all times; otherwise, a representative might just be representing himself and his cronies while he thinks he is representing a people. In the light of this, we recommend the following:
1) Every representative of a people needs to put a clearly defined methodology in place as regards how he connects with the people he represents in an inclusive manner.
2) That nominated projects for a constituency must align with the needs of the people of the constituency is more than stating the obvious.
3) Our collective efforts can achieve responsive and responsible governance, electorates should continue to ask their representatives questions.
In his remark, His Royal Majesty, Oba Adeniyi Ajakaye, the Oluyin of Iyin-Ekiti, urged journalists to go into investigation of the report and ensure that any representative not living up to expectation by improving the lives of the constituents is brought to his toes.
Earlier in his address, the Chairman, Nigeria Union of Journalists, Comrade Kayode Babatuyi, said the report presentation was done to bridge the gap between the government and the governed.
” The report were opinions from members of the public based on their relationship with their lawmakers. The report is not to slight anybody, it is just a mechanism to put the representatives on their toes in order to do more for the society”
