Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola has continued to trade
words with members of the National Assembly over tampered 2017 Budget which recorded some added projects by Lawmakers.
According to the Minister, Nigeria is in big
trouble if lawmakers do not understand the
difference between cash and budgets.
Fashola had earlier complained that some
provisions of the budget violate the nation's
constitution. The National however clapped
back that the Minister was spreading 'half-
truths' about the controversial Budget.
The former Lagos Governor who spoke in a
statement signed by Hakeem Bello, his
special adviser on media, said it will not be
out of place to seek a resolution of the
conflict between the executive and the legislators at the supreme court.
He alleged that the national assembly was
more interested in small projects that are not
life-changing.
In the case of the Second Niger Bridge where
one of the spokespersons alleged that the
provision in 2016 budget was not spent and
had to be returned, Fashola said that this
displays very stark and worrisome gaps in
knowledge of the spokesperson about the budget process he was addressing.
Fashola said the focus on contracts by the
spokesperson of the house of representatives
is probably a "Freudian slip that reveals his
mindset".
He said: "Budget is not cash, it is an approval
of estimates of expenditure to be financed by
cash from the ministry of finance. The ministry of finance has not yet released any cash for the second Niger bridge, so no money was returned.
"Three phases of early works of piling and
foundation were approved and financed by the
previous government in the hope that a
concession will finally be issued, which has
not happened because concessionaires have
not been able to raise finance.
"The continuation of early works IV could not
start in May 2016 when the budget was passed because of high water level in the River Niger in the rainy season.
"The contract was only approved by the federal executive council in the first quarter of 2017 and the contractor is awaiting payment.
"In any event, allegations of half-truth is only
a flawed response to the constitutional and
developmental issues that have plagued Nigeria from 1999 about how to budget for the critical infrastructure in Nigeria.
"It shows the conflict between the executive
that wants to build big federal highways;
bridges; power plants; rail; and dams on one
hand and parliament that wants to do small
things like boreholes, health centres, street
lights and supplying grinding machines.
"As long as budgets planned to deliver life-
changing infrastructure are cut into small
pieces, Nigeria will continue to have small
projects that are not life-changing, and big
projects that have not been completed in 17
years.
"If a project would cost N15 billion and the
contractor gets only a fraction of that, then
things won't move. Success should be defined
by how many projects an administration is
able to complete or set on the path of irreversible completion and not how many
poorly funded contracts are awarded.
"There is no fallacy or half-truth in the allegation that the budgets were reduced. The spokespersons admitted this much and now sought to rationalise it by a concession or
financing arrangement that has failed to build
the road since 2006. The biggest momentum
seen on the road was in 2016."
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