The Nigerian Senate has expressed its willingness to honour President Muhammadu Buhari's wish for a Lagos-Calabar rail project which was left out of the original budget.
Senate President, Bukola Saraki
Speaking with journalists on Tuesday after a closed-door session of the Senate, the spokesman of the upper chamber, Abdullahi Sabi, has disclosed that the Senate is willing to honour President Muhammadu Buhari’s wish for a Lagos-Calabar rail project, which was left out of the original budget and has been the subject of controversy since the weekend.
He said that the way forward after the rail project controversy is for the executive to submit a supplementary budget, which would contain the Lagos-Calabar rail project.
It can be recalled that in a statement on Monday, Sabi had said that the item – Lagos-Calabar rail project, was not in the original budget, and had advised the presidency not to set the people against the national assembly.
"We issued that statement to clarify the situation and not to confront or threaten anybody," he said at the media briefing. "What we issued yesterday is our position. What we did today was to confirm. I will definitely remain guided by the tenets of the constitution.
"That the Lagos-Calabar project was not in the budget does not undermine its importance. The national assembly is open; whenever the executive brings the supplementary budget regarding the project, it will be honoured.
"But we must remain guided by the constitution. That we pass the budget has not ended our responsibility. We have to move to oversight functions. We know it is an important project and we are ready to honour it. The way forward is that we have passed budget, and we are saying bring a supplementary appropriation bill."