N80B Budgeted As Counterpart Funding For Federal Ministry of Transportation In 2019- Sen. Ashafa
Oru Leonard
The Senate Committee Chairman on Land Transport, Senator Gbenga Ashafa, has said that N80bn has been approved by the Federal Government of Nigeria as counterpart funding for capital projects in the Federal Ministry of Transportation 2019 budget.
Senator Gbenga Ashafa said this on Friday, March 28, 2019 while addressing journalists during an inspection tour of the Lagos- Ibadan railway project involving the Minister of Transportation, the Ghanian Minister of Highways, the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Shippers Council and the media.
Ashafa re assured Nigerians that the National Assembly would do its best to ensure that the railway project continues.
He noted that a lot of progress had been made on the project when compared to what the National Assembly Committee team met on the site when they visited in February last year.
According to Ashafa, close to 10,000 Nigerians work on the railway project, adding that employment had risen and the indirect benefits of the construction work on commerce and trade were endless.
“So this is a project that cannot fail. It is a project that cannot be abandoned. Thank God President Muhammadu Buhari has been reelected for the second term, so that will give the project the desired continuity,” Ashafa stated.
“A component of that capital budget that will affect this project is the counterpart funding and about N80bn has been earmarked for that as was proposed. If we can get more money to add to it, well and good,” Ashafa added.
The Minister of Transportation, Honourable Rotimi Amaechi, added his voice to what Senator Ashafa said that the project will be given all the attention required until it is completed.
When asked on the likelihood of federal government abandoning the railway project, Amaechi replied, “Why should you bother about that when you know that the funding comes from China Exim Bank and we (Nigeria) have finished paying our own money? So why will it be abandoned?
“First of all, we won the elections and I thought you should see it from that angle. Having won the elections, it means that the same government will work hard to finish the project. Even if you change the minister, the project will continue.”
