ABUJA—The Senate, yesterday, gave what it described as a final warning to the presidency on its dealings with the legislative branch of government, affirming that it would no longer tolerate the presidency blaming the legislature for its failures.

The assertion which was a direct fallout from brickbats over the removal of the Calabar – Lagos rail project from the final budget, came as presidency officials, yesterday, affirmed that the rail project was in the budget but removed by the committees of Appropriation in the Senate and the House of Representatives.

The claim which was stoutly rebuffed by the Senate and the House was, however, backed by Chairman of the Senate Committee on Land Transport, Senator Gbenga Ashafa, who said the coastal rail project was in the budget report presented by his committee to the Senator Danjuma Goje-led committee on appropriation.

The Senate, last night, in a sternly worded statement urged President Muhammadu Buhari to sign the budget bill and not distract Nigerians from what it claimed were acts of blackmail on the part of the executive arm.

The statement singled out Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi for blame, asking him to apologise for seeking to pitch one section of the country against the other and asked him to resign if he cannot show evidence of the inclusion of the projects in the original budget as presented by the president.

Senate's final warning

The statement issued by Senate spokesman,
Senator Abdullahi read in part: “While the
executive is mandated to prepare and lay
before the National Assembly a proposed
budget detailing projects to be executed, it
should be made clear that the responsibility
and power of appropriation lie with the
National Assembly. If the presidency expects
us to return the budget proposal to them
without any adjustments, then some people
must be living in a different era and probably
have not come to terms with democracy.
“We make bold to say, however, that the said
Lagos-Calabar rail project was not included in
the budget proposal presented to the
National Assembly by President Muhammadu
Buhari, and we challenge anyone who has
any evidence to the contrary to present such
to Nigerians.

“Since the beginning of the 2016 budget
process, it is clear that the National Assembly
has suffered all manners of falsehood,
deliberate distortion of facts, and outright
blackmail, deliberately aimed at poisoning the
minds of the people against the institution of
the National Assembly. We have endured this
with equanimity in the overall interest of
Nigerians. Even when the original submission
was surreptitiously swapped and we ended
up having two versions of the budget, which
was almost incomprehensible and heavily
padded in a manner that betrays lack of
coordination and gross incompetence, we
refused to play to the gallery and instead
helped the Executive to manage the hugely
embarrassing situation it has brought upon
itself; but enough is enough.

“This latest antics of this particular minister
of transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, is reckless,
uncalled for and dangerously divisive. Apart
from setting the people of the southern part
of the country against their northern
compatriots, it potentially sets the people
against their lawmakers from the concerned
constituencies and sets the lawmakers against
themselves. This manner of reprehensible
mischief has no place in a democracy. We
hereby demand from Mr. Amaechi a publicly
tendered apology if he is not able to show
evidence that the Lagos-Calabar rail project
was included in the budget. Otherwise, he
should resign forthwith.

“Finally, by the provision of Section 81 (4) (a)
and (b) of the constitution, the President is
allowed to sign the budget and kick-start the
implementation of the other areas that
constitute over 90 per cent of the budget
where there is agreement between both
arms, even as we engage ourselves to resolve
the contentious areas, if there were any. We,
therefore, maintain that even these contrived
discrepancies are not sufficient excuse not to
sign the budget into law.

“We, therefore, urge President Buhari to sign
the 2016 budget without any further delay.
For every additional day that the president
withholds his assent from the bill, the
hardship in the land, which is already
becoming intolerable for the masses of our
people gets even more complicated.
Certainly, as primary representatives of the
people, we shall not vacate our responsibility
and watch the people continue to suffer
unduly.”

The statement followed an earlier press
conference where the Senate spokesman also
claimed ignorance of the presence of the
projects in the budget presented by the
president.

House spokesman, Namdas at a press
conference also, yesterday, accused Amaechi
of bringing the Calabar – Lagos rail project to
the National Assembly through the back door.
According to him, the report that the project
was removed, and its budget appropriated
for the completion of the Lagos-Kano rail
project was misleading and intended to set
the Southern and Northern parts of the
country against each other.

Meanwhile, fresh insights into how political
infighting in the All Progressives Congress,
APC, and ego by senior officials of the
National Assembly led to the extraction of the
Lagos – Calabar rail project and other key
infrastructure projects of the administration
from budget 2016 have been unveiled.
At the centre of the controversy, yesterday,
were the chairmen of Senate and House of
Representatives committees on
Appropriation, Senator Danjuma Goje and
Abdulmumin Jibrin. The reports of the two
committees on Land Transport, Vanguard
learned, contained proposals for the Lagos –
Calabar and Kaduna – Idu rail projects which
were both removed by the committees of
appropriation in both chambers. Vanguard is
in possession of a text message purportedly
sent to committee chairmen in the House of
Representatives by Jibrin, asking them to
defend whatever controversy could arise
from the action in the media.

source: www.vanguardngr.com/2016/04/senate-gives-buhari-final-warning-over-budget-2016/

Which kind dulllard be this? The way i dey see things, very soon the senators will be rushing for wailers form. Even the 50.000 forms we printed yesterday finished in less than 1 hour. Senators must provide us with fuel for our generator so that we go power the printing machine, if not.......next thing now u go hear say osinbajo don turn wailer.

PAINGAIN post: Which kind dulllard be this? The way i dey see things, very soon the senators will be rushing for wailers form. Even the 50.000 forms we printed yesterday finished in less than 1 hour. Senators must provide us with fuel for our generator so that we go power the printing machine, if not.......next thing now u go hear say osinbajo don turn wailer.

guy abeg carry your frustration go.

Rubbish!

Ashafa has proved Amaechi assertion that the Lagos Calabar rail project was presented to the budget committee separately and defended. What is difficult there beyond resolution?

This senators are playing at something