The House of Representatives has denied reports that the National Assembly expunged from the 2016 budget details sent to the Executive last Thursday, the vital Calabar – Lagos rail line project.
Our correspondent yesterday reported that the purported removal and ‘mutilations’ of some major items contained in the 2016 Appropriation Bill by the National Assembly may have delayed its signing into law by President Muhammadu Buhari, at least, by a week.
We also reported that following the emergency Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting held on Friday, it was discovered that aside the removal of the Calabar – Lagos rail line project from the budget details, the National Assembly purportedly reduced allocation to the completion of Idu-Kaduna rail project by N8.7b; slashed allocations for the completion of all major road projects across the country; proposed new roads for which studies have not been conducted; dropped proposals for the purchase of essential drugs for major health campaigns like Polio and AIDS; cancelled or reduced allocations for diversification projects under Agriculture and Water Resources; and diverted funds for rural health facilities and boreholes for which provisions had been made elsewhere.
But Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation, Hon Abdulmumin Jibrin, on Sunday took to his verified Twitter handle @AbdulAbmJ to dismiss the reports as false.
Hon. Jibrin, whose committee worked extra weeks in conjunction with its Senate counterpart led by Senator Danjuma Goje, to get the 2016 budget details ready so they could correct all the inconsistencies, errors, omissions and padding in the document submitted to the National Assembly by the president in December last year, accused the Executive of misleading the nation.
According to the lawmaker representing Bebeji/Kiru federal constituency of Kano State, the Calabar – Lagos rail line project was never captured in the 2016 budget sent to the National Assembly.
In a series of tweets, in which he addressed the renewed controversy on the 2016 budget, Mr. Jibrin expressed shock that false information was being spread when a proper check could have easily revealed that the project was not included in the 2016 budget in the first place.
See tweets below:
Lagos-Calabar Railway line was NEVER captured in the budget that was sent by the Executive. How then could it have been removed by NASS?
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) April 10, 2016
I actually find it shocking that even some National Dailies made the removal their headlines. A little research would would have helped.
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) April 10, 2016
All they, and those spreading the false information needed to have done is check the initial document sent by the Executive.
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) April 10, 2016
Lagos-Calabar Rail was never included. How could NASS have removed what was not there? But the nation is being misled.
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) April 10, 2016
The NASS has always been on the receiving end of bad press. This is being capitalised on in the conversations on #Budget2016
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) April 10, 2016
This is unfortunate as it is quite clear to all and sundry that #Budget2016 and all its headaches and controversies didn't emanate from NASS
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) April 10, 2016
Take the budget of the ministry of Transportation was overshot by N54b. That is, by the time you add up the items on the ministry's budget..
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) April 10, 2016
…you'd still have a gap of N54b. N54billion lying there without being allocated. NASS has a responsibility and here it did the right thing
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) April 10, 2016
What NASS did with the N54billion; We added N39.7b to the Lagos-Kano Rail project. This will help complete the project once and for all.
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) April 10, 2016
We also allocated N10b of this sum to the airports' navigation and security apparatus.
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) April 10, 2016
We often make so much noise about airport security after major plane crashes. But we need not wait for crashes to enhance safety at airports
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) April 10, 2016
We allocated the balance to Baro Ports for its completion and equipping. Baro Port is strategic to our economic development.
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) April 10, 2016
Much ado about vaccines that weren't even there. The budget of the ministry of Health was the most controversial.
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) April 10, 2016
The Minister of Health came to deny the document that was presented to the NASS by the Executive for the 2nd time.
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) April 10, 2016
The All Progressives Congress, APC, lawmaker also accused the Executive of discarding about 95 per cent of the National Assembly’s input to the 2016 budget, which he said “would have given life to the policy thrust” of the Buhari administration.
He listed some of the inputs to include:
Some of these inputs include; Special Intervention for the Solid Mineral Sector. This is even imperative seeing the realities around oil.
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) April 10, 2016
Some of our other inputs include; Special Intervention for Rural Agriculture, Payment of Pension Arrears. Rural Community Light project.
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) April 10, 2016
The Rural Community Light project to light up 100 communities spread across the 774 Local Governments.
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) April 10, 2016
We also had Special Programmes for Women Empowerment and the payment of debt owed local contractors.
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) April 10, 2016
We also suggested N100b be taken out of N500b set aside as Special Intervention Fund.
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) April 10, 2016
That N50b be set aside as special bursary for students of tertiary institutions…
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) April 10, 2016
…and another N50b for special training on Entrepreneurship for students of tertiary institutions pre-graduation. These were our inputs.
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) April 10, 2016
While expressing dismay that the Executive has failed to disown what he called “the false reports” flying around, Hon. Jibrin said:
The crux of the matter as it is, is that while the NASS believes in the bottom up agenda for development- focus on rural areas & communities
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) April 10, 2016
The Executive seems to favour a top-down approach. But this is not enough reason to mislead Nigerians on the role of NASS on the budget
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) April 10, 2016
It is important to have a fact based conversation on these issues instead of the obvious attempts by some to mislead the general public.
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) April 10, 2016
