₦airaland Forum

Ojiofor:
Vhttp://www.mcebisco.com.ng/2018/06/2018-budget-south-east-senators-shocked.html
BMC and propaganda.

deomelo:
Sounds like some lazy jokers trying to cover their asses because of the potential fall out.

The Senate VP is from the same Enugu, was he sleeping like he's been doing since his first day in the Senate while the whole of SE got neglected even under Jona.

Imagine such atrocious cuts regarding the most critical infrastructure in his own state is he a bench warmer and a glorified senate VP and leader with zero weight and care when it comes to his own state and people back home.

BMC sighted.

winningwinner:
Lies! What happened is a case of giving with the right hand and collecting it with the left hand. Hear what Dino Melaye said:

Melaye said in a statement in Abuja in reaction to President Muhammad Buhari’s remarks when signing the 2018 Appropriation Bill on Wednesday, that the president's comments indicated that the legislators padded the budget, since the National Assembly was not a department in the Presidency. Issuing a statement in Abuja, Melaye said: “I notice that the president is trying to whip up sentiments against the National Assembly again, by alleging that the 2018 budget was padded.
“What the president is authorised to do constitutionally is to present the National Assembly with a Bill; a Bill is a work-in-progress and not the finished work.
“The reason the Constitution directs the Bill to be submitted to the national assembly is that it expects the national assembly to vet it and make inputs before passing it in readiness for Appropriation Act.
“The National Assembly is not expected to rubber stamp whatever Bill the president presents.
“If this was the norm, there would have been no need for the Constitution to direct that the Bill should be submitted to the national assembly in the first place.”
The lawmaker added that the president reserved the right not to append his signature if he was not convinced of what the legislature did as an institution.
According to him, the president is free to return the Appropriation Bill to the national assembly unsigned, with a note indicating his areas of disapproval.
Melaye further expressed displeasure with the level of implementation of the country’s budget in the last three years.
He said that the powers and authority of the National Assembly could not be eroded by the presidency.
Buhari had, while signing the Bill, said “the logic behind the Constitutional directive that budgets should be proposed by the Executive is that it is the Executive that knows and defines its policies and projects.
He said: “Unfortunately, that has not been given much regard in what has been sent to me.
“The National Assembly made cuts amounting to N347 billion in the allocations to 4,700 projects submitted to them for consideration and introduced 6,403 projects of their own amounting to N578 billion.
“Many of the projects cut are critical and may be difficult, if not impossible, to implement with the reduced allocation.
“Some of the new projects inserted by the National Assembly have not been properly conceptualized, designed and cost ascertained and will therefore, be difficult to execute.
“Furthermore, many of these new projects introduced by the National Assembly have been added to budgets of most MDAs with no consideration for institutional capacity to execute them or the incremental recurrent expenditure that may be required.”

Flexherbal:
He tweeted, “The provision for construction of the terminal building at the Enugu airport was cut from N2bn to N500m, which will further delay the completion of this critical project.”


Who did the cutting?

Ojiofor:
BMC sighted.

diebuhari1:
They also cut down the budget for Lagos Ibadan express road and other projects across the country, why the emphasis on that of the South east? Is it not the same useless APC lead and dominated national assembly that the Igbos refused to vote?

Anambralstson:
Op the picture you uploaded is old Enugu airport, Enugu has two new terminals
Below are the pictures

Xander85:
The Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, has blamed the National Assembly Committees for the slashing of budgetary allocation for the completion of the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu in the 2018 Appropriation Act from N2 billion to N500 million.
Ekweremadu, however, described as unfortunate the attempts by some persons to play politics with the development by insinuating that he or the South East lawmakers slashed the budget proposal for the project, especially when budgetary cut affected other geopolitical zones.
Ekweremadu in a statement on Thursday assured that the South East federal lawmakers and the National Assembly remained committed to the early completion of the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu.

He expressed disappointment over the cut in the budgetary allocation to the project in the 2018 Appropriation Act from N2 billion to N500 million. He said his investigation showed that the cuts took place at the committees level and hopefully the affected committees would have explanations to make when the National Assembly resumes.

The lawmaker explained that it would be unfair to expect him to monitor the activities of the over 60 committees of the Senate and 100 committees in the House of Representatives unless his attention was called to any challenges.

Ekweremadu said: “The Committees of the National Assembly are usually given a free hand to do their jobs, but they are structured in a way that every geopolitical zone is represented. That way, they can call the attention of the principal officer from their zone when any challenges arise. “But in this case, the South East holds the positions of Vice Chairman of the House and Senate Committees on Appropriation and also chairs the House Committee on Aviation. Unfortunately, unlike in the case of Committee on Works where my attention was called to the challenges in appropriations, award, and funding of major road projects and I made my modest interventions to resolve the issues, nobody informed me of any challenges concerning budgetary provisions for the Akanu Ibiam Airport.”

Ekweremadu however, observed that the quest for a befitting international airport for the South East had been a daunting challenge, pointing out that the government did not release the N2 billion approved by the National Assembly in the 2017 budget for the terminal building at the Enugu Airport.

He said: [b]“It is easily recalled that successive military and civilian governments refused to designate an international airport in the South East, despite endless promises. When I emerged as the Deputy President of the Senate in 2007, and with the support of other South East leaders and people, I led a delegation of South East Senators to see the late President Umar Yar’Adua over the matter.
“President Yar’Adua directed the Minister of Transport at the time, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, to designate the Akanu Ibiam Aiport an international facility in November 2007.
“Despite this magnanimity, the contract for the facility upgrade was not awarded even when all due process procurement activities had been completed with a due process certificate issued on December 1, 2008.
“In the 2009 Federal budget, the FG made a provision of N1billion for the upgrading of facilities at the airport. But we, members of the Enugu State caucus of the National Assembly, additionally appropriated the sum of N2 billion meant for constituency projects in our constituencies to the airport upgrade. Yet, the contract was stalled, leading to my protest letter to the late President Yar’Adua dated March 20, 2009 and the contract was eventually awarded.[/b] “We also ensured that the airport was gazetted as an international airport following the appointment of Mrs. Felicia Njeze as the Minister of Aviation by the government of President Goodluck. That administration eventually awarded a major contract that saw to the launch of the airport as an international facility in 2013.”

The Senator also noted that the Federal Government did not include the Enugu Airport or South East in the Chinese loan for airport upgrades as other international airports in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kano and Abuja.

He said: “We have continued to make case for the airport. The Minister of Aviation was in Enugu to see the airport. The Aviation Committees of the Senate and House of Representatives visited to see things for themselves. The issue was presented to the President when I led South East Senators to see him in 2017. It was raised in the meeting between the President and South East leaders October 13, 2017.
“Unfortunately, the sum of N2 billion approved for the construction of terminal building at the airport in the 2017 budget was not released.
“However, I am happy that the President has indicated that he would send a Supplementary Appropriation Bill. We will work with our colleagues from other zones to ensure adequate provisions for the airport. Hopefully, the government will now release the money this time, unlike the N2 billion in the 2017 budget when it did not release the funds.”

Ekweremadu also urged the Federal Government to release the already approved N500 million so that work could continue in earnest.


https://theeagleonline.com.ng/ekweremadu-faults-national-assembly-committees-for-slashing-budget-for-enugu-airport/

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From the above it can be seen that Senator Ekweremadu has been proactive concerning the upgrade of AIIA to int'l status. What's proved to be a stumbling block is the usual pull-him-down syndrome that's rife in Nigerian politics and governance!

Senator Odua tried. Thing is, she was not greedy, bigoted and nepotistic to channel all or majority of funds meant for renovation of airports to her region like is being done in this Buhari/APC regime! Hence, the funds were spread a bit too thinly. If she had been a bit selfish and clannish she could have done AIIA Enugu up to look much better....kinda like what Hadi Sirika has done with the Kaduna airport while he ignored AIIA!

Besides, with the neglect AIIA has faced since 2015, is it any wonder it's looking so dilapidated now?