Budget cut on ministry’s budget affecting work progress ―Fashola

Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola on Friday insisted that cuts in the ministry’s budget is affecting the work of the contractors saying that the development had made most of the contractors working on Federal Government critical projects to abandon site.

This is coming just as the minister denied ever targeting the National Assembly for insult in his comments on the budget fallout and consequently apologised to the lawmakers, saying ‎”It was never my intention to disparage this House and if any offence was taken with what I’ve said, I apologise for that.”

The Minister made the clarifications when he appeared before Hon. Aliyu Sani Madaki-led House of Representatives ad hoc committee investigating alleged breach of privileges of the house and incitement of the Nigeria public against the minister.

Speaking on some of the projects that is causing rancour between him and the National Assembly, he said work has since stalled on the projects due to paucity of funds as contractors having found out that what was appropriated in the budget is not even enough to clear outstanding debt of over N13billion.

According to him. “President Buhari asked me to prioritise 3 projects, the 2nd Niger Bridge, Ilorin – Jeba – Mokwa road, and Lagos – Ibadan expressway”, stressing that, “As I speak, we are owing outstanding of N13.5billion to contractors. We requested for N31billion to clear that and then fund the project with the balance but what was appropriated was N10billion. This goes to say that there’s not much we can do with this, because it can’t even pay the debt that we owe.”

On why the contractors abandoned site, he said, “Immediately it became known that this was the position in the budget, the contractor took a position, as well as the other contractor who wrote to say that the were suspending further works on the projects we gave them.”

Speaking further he said, “We need to change our budgeting system and simplify the process where we do less of paper work and condition ourselves to what is expedient in the mean time so the we won’t take forever trying to develop our country.”

While apologising to the lawmakers over his comment, “We don’t challenge your powers to determine budgets. If you have no role, the budget won’t even come to you in the first instance. Nobody is questioning your powers on this, and nobody knows your constituencies better than yoursleves. But where does the needs of constituencies over shadow nationally projected interventions as passionately indicated in the budget we submitted?”.

Speaking earlier, the chairman of the ad hoc committee, Honourable Madaki said that the committee was mandated “to investigate the very damaging and disparaging remark credited to the Hon. Minister of Power, Works and Housing Babatunde Fashola to the effect that “legislators have stark and worrisome knowledge of the budget process”.

He added that the “Hounarable Minister was also said to have queried the power of the National Assembly to alter the 2017 budget after the budget defence exercise. Both statements which tend to portray the National Assembly in bad light, raised great concern amongst the Honourable Members, hence this committee.”