Senate President, David Mark
This advice came in reaction to Sen. Ita Enang’s (PDP-Akwa Ibom) query that the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency’s (FERMA) budget for 2012 is bias and favours a section of the country.
The Senate President condemned the act, confessing that he has not seen the budget but the Senators would have done something very wrong if the allegations were true.
“The important thing is that every senator is a senator of Nigeria. If you are a chair of a committee, you must also know that there are other senators who are chairmen of other committees.
“We must be fair, and we must ensure that there is justice and that there is equity. I do not know what they have advertised, but if it is skewed in one direction, it is not correct.”
“It must be representative of this country. That is what the Senate is all about,” the Senate president said.
Senator Enang in his earlier complain disclosed that the FERMA budget was unbalanced as all projects for road construction were directed to only one state.
“The budget of Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) is not representative of this country. It starts almost in one state and ends in one state.”
“The roads start mostly in the Southeast and are concentrated in Enugu State. I am sorry to say this, and that should not be done in the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. “I am saying this from what is on record,’’ Enang queried.
The Senator earlier moved that the FERMA budget be stopped without further delays and restructured to cover all zones, as should originally be.
“Let Enugu State alone not take the money that belongs to the entire country. Mr President, I want us to even dissolve FERMA because it is not doing what it is supposed to do.”
“One person alone has the opportunity to write the budget, he diverts everything to his village and starves the entire country.”
“This is not the purpose of federal character. Even the village of the Senate President is not captured in the FERMA projects, ’’he said.
Responding to the allegations, Sen. Ayogu Eze, The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Works stated that Senator Enang has completely misunderstood and misread the whole issue.
Eze disclosed that, there was an earlier publication of constituency projects but not for the FERMA budget, rather, there were individual projects.
“What was advertised during the holidays was mainly some of the new projects that came as a result of constituency projects of some individuals.”
“It is not a representation of the entire budget of FERMA. Before they made this last advertisement, they have awarded about 90 per cent of their contracts in different parts of the country,’’ Eze said.
Besides, he noted, that every zone was represented on the committee of works in the country.
Nnoli Nnaji (South East) was later nominated as a member of the governing board of FERMA and the Senate President challenged the board to live beyond the expectations of Nigerians, while congratulating the new board member.
BusinessNews
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