As the controversy over the N60 billion Lagos-Calabar
railway project continues, the Federal Government has insisted that the
Transportation minister, Rotimi Amaechi did no wrong because the
project was duly submitted and accepted by the lawmakers for approval.
According to the National Planning
ministry, the amended Ministry of Transportation budget was accepted by the
relevant committees and that was the version defended by the Minister of
Transportation and his team.
In a statement by the spokesman for the
National Planning minister, Akpandem
James“It must be emphasized that the two rail projects are part of those for
which the President is currently negotiating funding with the Chinese
government.”
“The N60bn provided in the budget for
the Lagos-Kano and Calabar-Lagos rail lines, respectively, is counterpart
funding to support the Chinese financing for the projects.
“These projects are part of the
Strategic Implementation Plan of the government which was disclosed by the
Minister of Budget and National Planning at the National Economic Council
Retreat in March 2016, in the presence of state governors.
“They were also mentioned by the Vice
President last week in Lagos at The Nation Newspaper’s First National Economic
Forum.
“It is hoped that with this clarification,
the raging controversy over the Calabar-Lagos rail project will be put to
rest.”
But it seems the Senate is not buying
it. It has said that in spite of protest by the executive over alleged
non-inclusion of the N60 billion Lagos-Calabar coastal rail project in the 2016
budget, it would not revisit the budget.
Instead, the Red Chamber asked
President Muhammadu Buhari to prepare a detailed supplementary budget capturing
the project and submit before it for consideration.
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