Daily Independent (Lagos)
Adetutu Folasade-Koyi
2 July 2009
Abuja — Senators have approved cuts in the budget for education and health to fund road construction in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The approval on Wednesday came less than 24 hours after they intervened in the dispute between the government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
The Senate approved the virement of N22.7 billion from the 2009 FCT budget to build additional lanes and fly-overs in Abuja. Some Senators, however, opposed taking money from education and health to fund the project.
They argued that although road is vital, education and the wellbeing of the citizenry are equally important. President Umaru Yar'Adua had in a letter dated June 5 sought Senate approval of N25.97 billion virement for the road construction.
But the amount was reduced by N3.18 billion by the Senate Appropriation Committee, chaired by Iyiola Omisore. Omisore said when he presented the Committee's report on Wednesday that the fund would be sourced from 16 departments and agencies of the FCT, N4.18 billion would be deducted from education, and N2.1 billion from health and social services.
But Public Accounts Committee Chairman, Ahmad Lawan, countered that "while supporting this, I want to make some observation. Education and health services are very basic and essential, and cannot wait. We cannot afford to wait till the 2010 budget.
"I think we can afford to take money from other sectors, but taking money from education and health is not good enough. We cannot take money from education and health to pay for liabilities. Liabilities can wait for the 2010 budget."
Deputy Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba, also argued that road construction should not take precedence over the masses.
"I support the dualisation of the roads because it is the gateway to the FCT," he stressed.
"But I am, however, lost when I look at the areas where the money is being taken from. The report does not show whether what is left for those sectors would be enough for their projects and programmes for the remaining part of this year.
"I believe some projects are too critical. We cannot take money from education and health. Our masses come first. It is only a living being who can use dualised roads."
James Manager too said he is not against the virement, but noted that N6 billion is already provided in the 2009 budget for road projects.
How much of the N6 billion has been used for down payment to warrant an additional N25 billion? he wondered, adding: "I don't think it is wise to remove money from education and health."
Water Resources Committee Chairman, Bassey Ewa-Henshaw, disagreed with the argument that education and health in the FCT have money they cannot finish spending before the year runs out, in the face of several unresolved problems in the sectors.
A member of both Appropriation and FCT Committees, Smart Adeyemi, said he is convinced the recommendations were made in good faith.
"We took quite a lot of things into consideration in making the recommendations. These are projects that are very important because of the number of lives lost on daily basis on those roads. These projects are very important for the nation," he urged.
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