Inyali Peter|14 April 2016|5:25am
Inyali Peter, Calabar
Governorship candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Cross River State in 2015 general election, Mr. Odey Ochicha has described the purported removal of the Lagos-Calabar Coaster Railway Project from the 2016 budget by the National Assembly as uncharitable and wicked.
In a statement issued in Calabar, Ochicha quarrelled that the national assembly has no right whatsoever to appropriate what the executive arm of the government didn't include in the budget.
Ochicha maintained that the controversy which has surrounded the budget since when President Buhari submitted the document last year to the National Assembly was “created” by members to frustrate the efforts of the APC-led administration to clean the mess of the PDP.
He said that the attitude of members of the legislative arm clearly showed that they are insensitive to the plight of the general public.
While calling on legislators from Cross River State to rise to the challenge to ensure that the necessary correction is made, he urged members from the south south region to work across party lines to ensure that they support the President's vision to develop the area.
According to him, “To say the least, the padding of the 2016 appropriation bill by the National Assembly is grossly uncharitable and wicked. How could they have removed the major projects that represent the economic policy of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration?
“The economic importance of the Lagos-Calabar coaster railway project cannot be over emphasized. When completed, this project has the capacity of connecting the entire south south region to the economic capital city of Nigeria. It will create job opportunities for the teeming youths.
“Honestly, I don't understand the rationale behind the whole thing. The constitution is very clear on who the arm of government that should prepare the budget. It is never the duty of the legislative arm to include or transfer what was not in the budget from one ministry to another”.
The APC chieftain stressed that government officials at all level under this administration should accept the reality that change has really come and it won't be business as usual.
He said, “Government officials must accept that President Buhari won't compromise his integrity for any reason. The APC government is a government of change and not business as usual therefore, everybody who wish Nigeria well must support the vision of the President to correct the mess of the past administration.
“All the controversies surrounding the budget today was created by the NAS members probably because Buhari and the ministers didn't carry money in Ghana-must-go bags to lobby them like before. If not, how can a patriotic legislator participate in the removal of key projects of an administration from the budget? They even removed what was budgeted for drugs; this is very ridiculous.
The former governorship candidate commended the President and the Federal Executive Council members who insisted that the document must be corrected to include projects that represent the change mantra of the administration before the President's assent.
“I commend the courage of the President and the NEC who have insisted that the right thing must be done before the President's assent. The Nas members will now understand that Buhari would not subscribe to any form of illegality”, he said.