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MEMORANDUM PRESENTED BY THE HONOURABLE MINISTER OF POWER, WORKS AND HOUSING TO THE INVESTIGATIVE COMMITTEE ON BREACH OF PRIVILEGE, VIOLATION OF APPROPRIATION ACT AND INCITEMENT OF THE NIGERIAN PUBLIC (HR.26/2017) AT THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONFERENCE ROOM 034 ON FRIDAY, 28TH JULY 2017
My presence here is in response to the letter dated 20th July 2017, with the above captioned title stating into alia that:
“The House of Representative at its sitting on 4th July, 2017 resolved to set up an Ad-Hoc Committee to Investigate the Statement credited to the Hon. Minister of Power, Works and Housing to the effect, that ‘legislators have stark and worrisome knowledge of the budget process.’ The Hon. Minister also queried the power of the National Assembly to alter the 2017 budget proposal after the budget defence exercise, thereby inciting members of the public against the legislature.
“In view of the sensitivity of the above statements credited to the Hon. Minister and by virtue of the important position he occupies in this administration, it is pertinent to situate the Hon. Minister’s statement for the benefit of the Nigerian people.”
The letter was signed by Honorable Aliyu Sani Madaki and a copy is attached as Annexure I to this memorandum.
Whilst I welcome the opportunity to be here to discuss the developmental issues concerning the budget, the letter does not state the format of the investigation; and how the hearing will be conducted.
I have therefore prepared this memorandum to guide my representation in the hope that it will also be useful to the Committee.
Permit me to preface my specific responses with a general statement about the purpose and intent of the comments that have prompted this investigation.
That general statement is to the effect that, like many Nigerians, I have been concerned about the state and pace of development of our country’s infrastructure and the consequences they have on our quality of life and expectations.
My views have been expressed in speeches at public fora, and also in presentations made to the oversight committees that relate to the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing in both Houses of Parliament.
As far as roads are concerned, I have argued that we should build roads which connect our states, which drive our economy, which move our fuel, which moves our food and which help us to import and export goods.
Any road that does not connect to the last point necessary to drive our economy is a road to nowhere.
With regard to power, I have made a similar case about the need to produce the power, transport and distribute it, as priority. Unless we do these, it is my view that no real results can be expected in terms of the purpose of the rural electrification projects.
The position is not different with housing which must take into consideration locating them in places with existing infrastructure like roads and electricity or water supply; otherwise people will be reluctant to live in them.
This general preface represents the basis why I hold the view that our budgeting priorities and processes must change from what we have done since 1999, if we truly expect to see a different result from what we have had.
I have no doubt that all of you, whatever the side of the political divide you belong, want to see some development in Nigeria that is worthy of the name in your lifetime, as I do.
This is one thing that I believe we share in common. What I suppose we do not share in common or agree about is the route to that development. To that extent I think it is a healthy disagreement that should not make us disagreeable.
Furthermore, the matter is a matter of public knowledge over which many people have spoken in the past, and I believe that in speaking about it, I contribute my own views of the argument.
This is the context in which I granted the interview to The Cable news on Friday 16th June 2017 which was published on Wednesday 21st June 2017.
Throughout the interview I spoke about projects across different zones of Nigeria and the problems with my Ministry’s budget.
Indeed after the Appropriation Bill was passed, the Ministry of Budget and Planning had written to all ministries asking us to comment about changes in our budget between the budget proposal and estimates presented by Mr. President to Parliament, and the Appropriation Bill passed by Parliament.
My Ministry had responded in writing and detail containing substantially what I said in the interview, which had then become a matter of public record which anybody could have obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.
In my view, saying so by way of interview did not change what was already a matter of public record.
To that extent, I do not think that amounts to inciting the public against the Legislature. That was not my purpose, and that is not my way.
With respect I also do not think that there has been a violation of the 2017 Appropriation Act by words spoken in the interview.
As for the allegation that I said: “Legislators have stark and worrisome knowledge of the budget process.”
I did not say so of legislators as a whole. I know many of them and I know the capacity they bring to the public place and the sacrifices some of them have made.
What I said was specific in relation to the SPOKESPERSON not the legislators as a whole.
I did not say so in my interview to The Cable. Because as I have said repeatedly this was about Development not about personalities. What I said in relation to knowledge of the Budget process was in reply to what the spokesperson said in response to my interview that I was being untruthful, a grave personal allegation, and in response to the part where he said:
“To the specific issues raised, it is very misleading and calculated mischief to simply say that N5 billion was taken from the budget for 2nd Niger Bridge. The truth is that in the 2016 Budget, N12 billion was appropriated for the 2nd Niger Bridge and not a Kobo was spent by the Ministry. Not a Kobo. The money was returned.”
This was what I was responding to, because no money was released to us for the 2nd Niger bridge. The contract for Early Works IV approved by FEC in the First Quarter of 2017 has still not been funded. So we did not refund money.
The reason I responded was not only because it was not true, but because members of the public were calling to ask me why the Ministry returned money, when the Ministry never received money.
It of course occurred to me that there may be a mix up in the distinction between a budget, (as approved estimates of expenditure), and the financing of the approval by cash.
This is a common error; and it only speaks to knowledge or lack thereof; which is what I spoke about.
I also do not know some things and I have been the first to admit publicly if I don’t know the thing, and I have never taken offence if someone else pointed it out.
As for why the Budget for the 2nd Niger Bridge was not utilized, I have said we have not got the funds to pay the contractor, which is the reason, but I will provide details of the Procurement’s difficulties when I speak to the issue of the 2nd Niger bridge which your invitation asks me to respond to.
But before I do so, let me invite your attention to
- Annexure II, II(a-c) the 2017 part of our 3 (Three) year revolving plan for Nigeria’s Road and Bridge Network, for 2017 – 2019.
- Annexure III, III (a) our Plan for 44 Federal Highways in 2017 as contained in the Budget proposals and the changes that have been made to it in the Appropriation Bill passed by Parliament.
- In addition to the plan for 44 (Forty-Four) major highway construction, I wish to also draw your attention to the Tour of 34 states, by the Ministry which l led in the First Quarter of 2017 and the 63 (Sixty-Three) roads we identified and prepared for Emergency intervention ahead of the rainy season to give relief to Nigerians, subject to appropriation. Please see Annexure IV.
What you will observe is that no zone has been left behind.
Indeed the Federal Character Commission which is the statutory Institution to enforce compliance recently has this to say about our Ministry’s compliance in a Speech delivered by the Acting Chairman, Dr. Shettima Bukur Abba at the 23rd National Council on Works in Abuja on 20th July 2017 when he said:
“The priority given to the Lagos – Ibadan Super highway, the Kano Maiduguri dual carriageway, the Second Niger bridge that have defied previous governments, and housing projects that has sprang up in every state of the Federation are projects that cut across not only geographical zones but also states of the Federation.
“I am also pleased to note that these years (sic) ministry’s budget has taken into consideration regional and national spread in sighting projects to be executed. We are convinced that these projects are Federal character compliant and of benefit to all Nigerians.”
Honorable members, I will now proceed to respond to the specifics of:
- The status of reconstruction work and budgetary provision of Lagos-Ibadan expressway in 2016 and 2017 – Annexure V,V (a i-ii)
- The status of reconstruction work and budgetary provision for Abuja-Kano expressway in 2016 and 2017 – Annexure V (b)
- The status of 2nd Niger bridge – Annexure V(c- ci)
Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN
Honourable Minister Power, Works and Housing
24th July 2017
