BY LINUS CHIBUIKE
THE Senate, on Sunday, said the picture painted by the Minister of Works and Housing on the state of Nigerian roads, which blamed National Assembly members, was meant to set the legislators on a collision course with those they were elected to represent.
The lawmakers condemned the minister’s submission as sentimental, saying he was merely calling a pity party.
They specifically described his statement that Nigerians should hold the National Assembly members responsible for the poor state of roads as a “fallacy of the highest order.”
In a statement titled, “Senate debunks Minister’s claim on budgetary allocations to road construction,” issued in Abuja on Sunday, by its spokesperson, Ajibola Basiru, the Senate said inasmuch as it would not want to engage in any unnecessary altercation with the minister, it was necessary to put the records straight, considering the importance of the topic.
The senators also wondered where Fashola got his figure of N600bn, which he said was the figure proposed to the National Assembly by his ministry and which was allegedly not supported or approved by the National Assembly.
According to them, the minister made the allegation when elders from Benue State, led by Air Vice Marshal Morgan, visited him on Monday, to complain about the state of roads in Benue South Senatorial District.
Basiru said, “It is necessary to put all the records straight so as to disabuse the minds of the unsuspecting public about the acts of the National Assembly.
“The records are needed to be set right so that the two arms of government should not be seen as working at cross purposes in the course of delivering dividends and good governance to electorate.”
He added, “Putting the records straight, the Senate gave the figures of the 2020 proposal for capital expenditure as N265, 868 037,093bn by the Executive, which the National Assembly passed.
“The Executive later brought a revised allocation of N256,734,983,667bn, which we also appropriated. As we talk, even in the budget proposal for 2021, the Executive proposed a capital expenditure of N363, 266, 425, 976bn.”
“The Senate then wondered where the Hon. Minister got his figure of N600bn which he said was the figure proposed to the National Assembly by his ministry and which was allegedly not supported or approved by the National Assembly,” the statement added.
The Senate, therefore, urged Nigerians and specifically the Ministers’ guests from Benue State South Senatorial District to note that “figures do not lie”.
It listed three ongoing road construction projects in Benue South to include: Oju -Adum Okuku road, at N91,180 000; Oturkpo Township road, at N357, 200, 000; and Oju/Loko–Oweto bridge, at a cost of N357, 200, 000.
The lawmakers also faulted the minister’s position that they prioritised constituency projects over others, saying, “On the Minister’s allusion and or allegation to prioritising constituency projects over other projects, the Senate affirmed that the Minister was merely calling a pity party and being sentimental.
”The statement was made to set the National Assembly on collision course with the people they are democratically representing.
“It should be emphasised therefore that never has allocations specifically meant for other projects ever been diverted to constituency projects as constituency projects are having allocations in the budget.”
According to them, the execution of constituency projects lie within the Executive Arm of government through its various Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
