The House of Representatives has summoned the Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) for comments attributed to the Minister on national dailies.
Speaking on the matter at plenary on Tuesday, 4 July 2017, many legislators expressed objections over comments attributed to the Minister on the pages of national dailies, which “breach” their privileges. In particular, Hon. Sadiq Ibrahim (APC:Adamawa) criticized the Minister for describing legislators understanding of the budget process as “stark and worrisome” . The lawmaker was also of the view that the statement was capable of inciting Nigerians against their elected representatives.
Other recent statements credited to Mr. Fashola in the newspapers include the observation that the National Assembly had inserted projects outside the purview of his Ministry allocation under the 2017 Appropriation Act. The Minister had also condemned the legislative arm of government for its arbitrary inclusion of such projects even after public hearings on the budget and defense of the fiscal estimates by ministries had been made.
The House also unanimously set up an ad-hoc committee chaired by Hon. Aliyu S. Madaki(APC:Kano) to question the Minister over his comments.
