The controversy trailing the 2018 budget
may not have abated as the Chairman, Senate Committee on Electricity,
Iron, Steel and Meteorology, Senator Eyinaya Abaribe says he would open a
can of worms that must have precipitated his arrest when the Senate
resumes plenary on Tuesday.
Responding to Sunday Telegraph’s
enquiry on the heels of his release last week after spending five days
in custody of the Department of State Services (DSS), the Senator
representing Abia North in the National Assembly declined comments, but
said would keep sealed lips till that day.
Sources close to the
Senator, however, said his recent arrest and detention was designed cow
because of his protest over unlawful padding of the power budget by
N30billion by yet to be identified highly placed person(s) in the
Ministry of Power, Works and Housing after its passage by the National
Assembly.
“In the 2018 Appropriation Act, the National Assembly
discovered a disparity to the tune of N30billion in the budget passed by
them and the one assented to by the President.
A new item under
code 1010927, titled: ‘Expansion and Reinforcement of Infrastructure in
11 Distribution Companies to Reduce Stranded Generation Capacity,’ was
noticed by lawmakers,” the source said.
The discovery, our source
said, has compelled other committees in both houses to carry out a
comparative study of what they approved in the Appropriation Act, and
what was contained in the copy signed into law by the President.
“I
was when the report was to be made known by Abaribe, Senate Spokesman
and his counterpart in the House of Representatives that Abaribe was
arrested.
“I was there during the arrest. Eight security
operatives visited the house; two manned the gates while the other six
searched through every document in the house.
We were told they
were looking for weapons, but no such was found. “They even saw Mrs.
Abaribe marking some school scripts, but they took her laptop computer
and examined it for any incriminating content.
But again nothing
was found. During his detention, he was given statement sheets on many
occasions to see whether he would contradict himself, but he failed to
do so,” the source said. The source added that the leadership of the
National Assembly which believed the arrest was designed to intimidate
the senator also visited the Director of SSS over the matter, to
formally lodge a complaint over the matter.
The National Assembly
wondered why the executive complained about alteration in the budget
because the former introduced 6,403 projects critical infrastructures
totaling N578 billion and slicing other allocations, when it inserted
new project after its passage.
However, when contacted, Senator
Abaribe declined comments on the issue, he rather said he could only
speak extensively on it when the National Assembly resumes this week.
Responding to the allegation, Special Adviser to the Power, Works and
Housing Minister, Mr. Hakeem Bello, said it is illogical for anyone to
claim that a new item was introduced into a budget already passed by the
National Assembly, just before Mr. President signed it into law.
“It
is very illogical to make such claim. If anyone injects a new item into
the bill before the President signs it into law, will the Ministry of
Finance release such fund for it?
I don’t know what they are talking about, and if the Senator wants to open any can of worms, we are waiting to see it,” he said
0 Comments