A member of the House of Representatives Committee on Transport, Mr. Ehiozuwa Agbonnayima, has slammed the Minister for Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, for deceiving Nigerians with claims that the N100 billion Lagos-Calabar rail project was in the budget which President Muhammadu Buhari presented to both chambers of the National Assembly.
Agbonnayima, who represents Ikpoba-Okha/Egor federal constituency of Edo State, revealed that there was no provision for the project in the first and second budget presented to the National Assembly.
He dismissed claims that the National Assembly removed the project from the national budget and implored the executive to accept their mistakes rather than resorting to blackmailing the National Assembly and inciting Nigerians against them.
He said: “First and foremost, the N100 billion for the Lagos – Calabar rail project which the Minister of Transportation claimed was in the budget, was never in the budget presented by President Buhari to both chambers of the National Assembly when they had a joint session.
“I can also tell you that when the budget was later brought back after the rumoured paddling, it was never in that second budget that was brought to the National Assembly.
“Let it be on record, yes, that there was a time the Minister wrote a letter to the National Assembly, not even to the entire National Assembly but to the Committee on Transport which I belong to on the issue.
“It was shocking to read on the pages of newspaper that N100 billion was removed from the 2016 budget. This is just another way of blackmailing the National Assembly. It is high time we stopped this blame game.”
