The panel of
the House of Representatives to investigate the altercation between the
Minister of Power, Works, and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN) and the
National Assembly will engage the former Lagos State governor on Friday this
week, The PUNCH reported on Monday.
The
minister, senators and members of the House of Representives had clashed soon
after Acting President Yemi Osinbajo signed the 2017 Appropriation Bill of
N7.441tn into law on June 12 over cuts in the budgets of the Lagos-Ibadan
Expressway and the second Niger Bridge.
Findings
showed on Monday that the ad hoc committee, which is chaired by an All
Progressives Congress lawmaker from Kano State, Mr. Ali Madaki, had fixed Friday
as the meeting date with Fashola.
In a
response to an electronic enquiry by The PUNCH in Abuja, Madaki simply wrote,
“Friday, 10am.”
Incidentally,
the meeting will be held the second day after the House would have probably
passed a virement proposal of N135.6bn by Osinbajo on Wednesday (tomorrow).
In the
virement, N46bn is set aside for Fashola’s ministry to fill in the budget gaps
in key projects that set off the row between him and lawmakers.
Fahola had
criticised the decision of the National Assembly to slash the budget of the
Lagos-Ibadan Expressway from N31bn to N10bn and that of the second Niger Bridge
from N15bn to N10bn.
He bitterly
complained that the action of the lawmakers had put the hope of early
completion of the vital projects in jeopardy, accusing members of stuffing the
budget with boreholes and health centre projects.
The minister
had summed up by saying that the legislators had “stark, worrisome knowledge”
of the budget of his ministry.
His choice
of words infuriated lawmakers, who accused him of inciting Nigerians against
the National Assembly after Fashola participated in all the meetings leading to
the signing of the budget.
The House in
particular, through its spokesman, Mr. Abdulrazak Namdas, dismissed Fashola as
telling Nigerians “half truths.”
The House
alleged that the minister’s real reason for attacking the legislature was
because the National Assembly removed a provision of N20bn he made for
“contingencies” in the budget.
They later
summoned the minister to appear before a committee to explain why he went to
the public to speak on a matter already settled by both parties before Osinbajo
signed the budget.
Meanwhile,
on Wednesday (tomorrow), the House will begin the consideration of Osinbajo’s
virement proposal.
The Deputy
Speaker of the House, Mr. Yussuff Lasun, confirmed this in Abuja on Monday.
“We are
looking at the constitution review report and the virement request by the
Acting President on Wednesday and Thursday,” Lasun stated.
The letter
on virement was titled, “Request for Virement of Funds from Various Budget
Lines to Fund Federal Government’s Priority Projects and Programmes.”
The opening
paragraph of the letter confirmed the budget cuts and the fact that the two
sides agreed to resolve their differences through the virement.
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