Railway Projects Key To 2016 Budget – Odigie-Oyegun

The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun has revealed that the execution of railway projects remains one of the priorities for the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.

He identified the railway projects as one of the critical infrastructural focuses of the administration just as he solicited patience and cooperation of Nigerians in ongoing efforts to salvage the country from its current economic quagmire.

“As at today, the economy is in the process of being reflated; meaning that money is being put into the system. Contractors are being mobilised to go back to work. New contracts will be awarded. The railway will be one of the very first priorities. We will for the first time, go from Kano to Lagos through Benin City all the way to Calabar by rail.”

He said in the coming months, the safety net created by the administration to cater for the poorest and vulnerable Nigerians and other economic initiatives aimed at diversifying and boosting the economy would be implemented.

Meanwhile, a group, the League of National Patriots, has said that the recent impasse between the National Assembly and the Presidency over the 2016 budget should be seen as a welcome development if truly it was borne out of the determination of the present administration to fight corruption and mismanagement.

The National Coordinator of the group, Abdulkareem Ikharo, lauded President Muhammadu Buhari “for his courage and refusal to sign the altered and padded budget which available facts have clearly shown were distorted for selfish motives.”

He said Nigerians are now “experiencing a better side of true democracy as a result of the formidable opposition being posed by the PDP especially at the National Assembly, noting that the opposition being presented by the PDP is good for good governance as long as it remains healthy and is borne out of nationalistic motives.