The All Progressives Congress (APC) has
said it would avail itself of all possible legal
options for a clear interpretation of the role of the
National Assembly in the passage of the nation's
budget.
The party which expressed displeasure with the
lawmakers' handling of the 2016 Budget, accused
the national assembly of going beyond her brief by
unnecessarily tinkering with the budget when its
constitutional duty was mainly supervisory.
In lashing at the lawmakers, the party particularly
expressed disappointment at the Chairman of the
Senate Committee on Appropriation, Danjuma Goje
and his counterpart in the House of
Representatives, Abdulmumin Jibrin for "directly
supervising and even actively abetting such
debauchery."
The party's position was contained in a statement
signed by its National Vice Chairman (South-South)
Prince Hilliard Eta and made available to journalists
in Abuja on Sunday.
It described the deletion of Lagos-Calabar rail track
from the 2016 Budget by the National Assembly as a
display of depraved indifference to the welfare of
Nigerians.
"The arbitrary removal of the Lagos – Calabar rail
track by the National Assembly from the 2016
budget is a display of depraved indifference to the
welfare of Nigerians. The deletion is not just
arbitrary; it is a big disservice to the people of
Nigeria, particularly the South South zone which
the proposed railway track would have traversed.
"Also, the total rehabilitation of the collapsed and
terrible Calabar – Odukpani –Itu – Ikot Ekpene
federal highway which was allotted N6bn by the
federal government in the budget was doctored and
almost N5bn removed and re-allocated to a non-
existent project in the constituency of the Chairman
of the House of Representatives Appropriation
Committee, Abdulmumin Jibrin, in Kano state.
"By these two acts, the Senate and House of
Representatives displayed the astonishing contempt
in which they hold Nigerians.
The National
Assembly exists to ensure that Nigerians get the
best from their government using the instrument of
purposeful legislation but the 8th Assembly by this
budget padding debacle has not only brought itself
to ridicule, it has also proved itself unworthy of the
trust and confidence of Nigerians", the party held.
While demanding that the budget be reverted, the
APC, therefore, threatened that "we shall approach
the courts of the land for a clear interpretation of
the role of the National Assembly in the passing of
the National Budget as it is evident that it
overstepped its bounds by unnecessarily tinkering
with the budget when its constitutional duty is
mainly supervisory."
Vanguard
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