Senators in Serious Battle over "Important" Calabar-Lagos Rail

Senators from the southern part of Nigeria have asked President Muhammadu Buhari to withhold his assent to the 2016 budget if the Appropriation Committees of both chambers of the National Assembly refuse to include the important Calabar-Lagos rail project in the 2016 appropriation bill.

Presidency had returned the Budget to National Assembly, asking the parliament to include the project in the 2016 budget passed but the lawmakers were demanding a supplementary appropriation.

Further checks at the office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Senator Ita Enang, revealed on Wednesday that the document, which was returned to the National Assembly on Monday evening, had been withdrawn again by the Budget Office.

A member of staff of the office told Punch on condition of anonymity that the budget was withdrawn on the orders of the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udo Udoma, on Tuesday.

Some Senators had, on Tuesday, vowed not to revisit the budget or include the Lagos-Calabar rail project and threatened to take “necessary action” if President Buhari refuse to sign the budget they passed.

But federal lawmakers from the South-West and South-South geopolitical zones met at their caucus levels on Tuesday night and resolved to resist any attempt to deny their zones the important project.

While the South-South senators met at an undisclosed location outside the National Assembly complex, the South-West senators met at the residence of Senator Gbenga Ashafa.

Senators, who attended the meetings, disclosed that the call for a supplementary budget was an attempt to deny the south an opportunity to enjoy a viable rail project.

Confirming the position of the southern senators to Punch, Senator Adesoji Akanbi said the APC caucus in the South-West was solidly behind the position of Senator Ashafa, who is the Chairman, Senate Committee on Land Transport, on the issue.

Akanbi added that the signing of the budget without the inclusion of the N60bn Calabar-Lagos rail project would not be in the interest of the people of the South-West and South South-South.

He said, “Personally, I see no reason why the funds in the Ministry of Transportation should be moved completely to the Ministry of Works for the construction of roads which belong to state governments without engineering design.

“We are seeking the reversal of this decision because the Calabar-Lagos rail project is very viable and it cuts across states in the South-South and South-West and it would galvanise the social and economic activities of the affected regions.

“Apart from this, the project is a joint venture between Nigeria and Japan and it is time-bound. Any attempt to leave it out of the budget this year will affect the execution of the project.”

He said the argument of appropriation committees that they could not accommodate the Calabar-Lagos rail project because it was not included in the budget presented by Buhari was not tenable because a supplementary provision was supplied.

A Senator from the South-South said, “The Federal Government deliberately wanted the Calabar-Lagos rail project in the budget to balance the northern and southern interests; so, nobody can remove it.”

He added, “Being a member of the appropriation committee, I can confirm that the project was in the budget submitted by the committee on land transport for inclusion into the main budget.”