SENATE Minority Lead­er, Senator Godswill Akpabio, has given as­surances that the N60 bil­lion Lagos-Calabar rail project will be included in the N6.06 trillion 2016 budget.to be forwarded to President Muhammadu Buhari for assent.

Speaking on telephone last night, Akpabio said owing to the importance of the Lagos-Calabar rail project, the National As­sembly will do everything to ensure it is included in the budget.

He promised that the Senate and House of Rep­resentatives will attend to the identified grey areas in the budget and harmonise positions for the budget to be sent back to Buhari for assent.

The senator, who was governor of Akwa Ibom State for eight years, said formation of a group, G77 in the Senate is not to serve as opposition to President Buhari but “to work for the deepening of democracy and for the good of Nigerians.”

The Lagos-Calabar rail project has been a subject of controversy following claims and counter-claims over its inclusion in the 2016 budget.

While the Presidency said that the project was included, after its omis­sion was noticed when the first version was forward­ed to the National As­sembly for consideration last December, federal lawmakers insisted it fea­tured only when Minister of Transport, Mr. Chi­buike Amaechi, appeared for his ministry’s budget defence.

Thereafter, the Ministry of Budget and National Planning confirmed the project was actually in­cluded in the budget from the Presidency and not from the minister, as al­leged.

Thesun…..

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