₦airaland Forum

liverpoolfc4life:
Rip to the dead,proff lale must pay for dis,more destruction looming

Federal Government Included And Defended The Inclusion Of Lagos-Calabar Rail In The 2016 Budget At The Senate- Senator Gbenga Ashafa

Senator Gbenga Ashafa, who chairs the Senate Committee on "Land Transportation," has debunked the assertion by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara and the Chair of House of Representatives Appropriation Committee, Abdulmunin Jibrin and other lawmakers that the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Railway project was never included in the 2016 budget.

In a press statement below, the Senator made it clear that while the initial budget did not contain the project, his Committee later received an amended budget from the executive branch through the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, who also defended the budget before his committee. He stated that the committee decided to allocate money to commence construction of the Lagos-Calabar rail in 2016. A counterpart funding is expected to be provided by the Chinese Export-Import Bank for the project.


Senator Gbenga Ashafa
See full text of Senator Ashafa's Press Statement below:


I have carefully followed the news items making the rounds in relation to the budget presented to the National Assembly and what was defended by the Ministry of Transport before the Senate Committee on Land Transport which I have the privilege of chairing.

The focal points of controversy seem to be the Lagos to Calabar railway modernisation projects and the completion of the Idu – Kaduna rail line.

I confirm that the Lagos to Calabar rail line was not in the original document that was presented to the National Assembly by the Executive. However subsequently at the budget defense session before the Senate Committee on Land Transport, the Hon. Minister for Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, did inform the committee of the omission of the Lagos to Calabar rail modernisation project and indeed sent a supplementary copy of the ministry's budget to the committee which contained the said project.

The minister noted that the amount needed for the counterpart funding for both the Lagos to Kano and Lagos to Calabar rail modernisation projects was in the sum of 120 Billion Naira, being 60 Billion Naira per project.

While the committee did not completely agree with all the changes made in the subsequent document, being fully aware of the critical importance of the rail sector to the development of our dear country, distinguished members of the Senate Committee on Land transport keyed into the laudable (Lagos to Calabar, rail modernisation) project and found ways of appropriating funds for the project without exceeding the envelope provided for the ministry.

In so doing, the committee observed that the Lagos to Kano rail rehabilitation project had been allocated the sum of N52 Billion Naira as against the sum of 60 billion which the Hon. Minister requested as counterpart funding while no allocation whatsoever was made for the Lagos to Calabar rail line.

Hence, the sum of 54 billion Naira that was discovered by the Senate Committee on Land Transport to be floating in the budget of the Ministry of Transportation as presented by the Executive was injected into augmenting the funds needed for counterpart funding of both projects (Lagos to Kano and Lagos to Calabar Rail modernisation), as at the time the committee defended its report before the senate committee on Appropriation. The Lagos to Calabar rail modernisation project was therefore included in the Senate Committee on Land Transports recommendation to the Senate Committee on Appropriations.

With regard to the Idu to Kaduna rail completion, the Senate Committee on Land Transport did not interfere with what was provided for in the budget as sent by the executive, being approximately 18 Billion Naira hence I am equally surprised to read on the pages of the newspapers that the amount allocated to the said project was reduced by 8 Billion Naira.

While I would have preferred to wait till Tuesday April 12th 2016 when the National Assembly reconvenes in order to have the benefit of viewing the details of the budget that was conveyed to the executive as passed, I am compelled to place the facts in proper perspective as it relates to the activities of the Senate Committee on Land Transport.



Without prejudice to the considerations and powers of the Senate Committee on Appropriations with regard to the appropriations process, the foregoing is the true reflection of what transpired at the committee level with respect to the Land Transport sector of the Ministry of Transport.


Senator Gbenga Ashafa (Lagos East)
Senate Committee on Land Transport

victorazy:
Will will will!!!! When will Buahri gov commence work?

christinie:
This Buhari never tells us a policy is initiated by the previous Government till he's criticised for it.

I hate pretences/propaganda/lies/misrepresentation.


Silly Government.

dtruth3:
And why is it that its only the Yorubas that are shouting on top of the roof?

*Why is the so called South-South and South East not bothered?

*Was the proposed project intended to actually benefit the South-South and South East, or another plot to expand Lagos economy? #ISmellRat


*And why is everybody now referring to Calabar as the "East" I thought Calabar is at the South-South? #hypocrisy


*Could it also be that the East and south are no longer bothered wether they are included in the Nigeria project, haven been described as 5% by Bubu, hence has accepted their fate?

Ask yourselves this questions, and your guess is as good as mine.

asorocker:
Why yorubas are so hell bent on having this project included in the budget is really surprising why are they crying more than the South South and south east.

Even the South East and Niger delta who are supposed to benefit from the project are not batting an eyelid.

Could this project be the Savior of south west or east bikonu.

bonechamberlain:
done to deceive the gullible ones.. they should stop flying first class while buhari is travelling daily with private jets.

senior123:
Buhari cannot intefere with NASS issues much. There is a limit to it. He can only refuse. He cant tell them what to do. Because in true terms, if NASS was actually real, it is supposed to be the voice of the people. So interference can lead to his impeachment. but NASS is useless that is why nobody will even support them. Buhari should flog all of them. It will make me happy.

Johnnyessence:
this school will soon be commissioned. ogbeni carry on after 2018 senate seat straight.