BABATUNDE Fashola, minister of power, works and housing, has flayed the members of the National Assembly, saying that the lawmakers had “stark and worrisome knowledge” about the budget of his ministry before altering several of its allocations in the 2017 Appropriation Act.

Fashola, who frowned at the name calling by the spokespersons of the National Assembly because of his observations on the 2017 budget, also stated that there was no concession agreement for the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Second Niger Bridge, as well as other road projects across the country.

Hakeem Bello,  special adviser on Media to the minister in a statement issued on Monday said he was worried that the National Assembly failed to address the fundamental points about development-hindering cuts in the allocations to several vital projects of the his ministry and others.

Acknowledging that the legislators could contribute to budget-making in a recent interview, he disagreed with the practice where the legislative arm of government unilaterally alters the budget after putting members of the executive through budget defence sessions and committee hearings to the extent that some of the projects proposed would have become materially altered.

According to him, it amounted to a waste of taxpayers’ money and an unnecessary distortion of orderly planning and development for lawmakers to unilaterally insert items not under the exclusive or concurrent lists of the constitution like boreholes and streetlights after putting government ministries, departments and agencies through the process of budget defence.

With specific regard to the ministry of power, works and housing, Fashola listed the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, the Bodo-Bonny road, the Kano-Maiduguri road, the Second Niger Bridge and the long-drawn Mambilla hydropower project, among others, as projects that the National Assembly materially altered their allocations in favour of boreholes and primary health care centres, which were never discussed during the ministerial budget defence.

Responding, Abdullahi Usman,  chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator and Abdulrazak Namdas, House of Representatives spokesperson, accused the minister of spreading half-truths and making fallacious statements.

They argued that Fashola should have known that the National Assembly only interfered with projects that had concession agreements and private sector funding components.

They also accused the minister of wanting to hold on to such projects in order that he would continue to award contracts.

– June 27, 2017 @ 8:52 GMT /