'Senators are my friends, we're not fighting', Minister says

dimeji akinloye

July 12, 2017 6:15 AM

Fashola said the disagreement between him and NASS is not personal but over the implementation the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan.

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The Minister of Power, Works, and Housing, Mr

The Senate had slashed the budget of Fashola's ministry for key projects such as the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in the 2017 Appropriation Act.

The lawmakers also inserted projects outside ministry's purview in the budget, a move the minister protested.

Speaking to State House correspondents on Tuesday, July 11, Fashola said he is not fighting with the National Assembly but admitted that there was a misunderstanding.

He stressed that the disagreement should not be seen as personal but one geared towards finding best ways to implement the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan.

"There is no problem between me, as an individual, and the National Assembly. And let me make that very clear, many of the Senators and honourable members are my personal friends. So, you don’t fight your friends," he said.

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Fashola said the National Assembly leadership had expressed "enormous support" for the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan but there is a disagreement over how to implement it.

He added, "Now, there is also a disagreement, which I don’t think should make us disagreeable, about the best way to implement that plan. And I think that is all that there is to it.

"It is, perhaps, possible that in the heat of the moment, while trying to canvass our different positions, we are misconstrued as fighting but I am not fighting anybody.

"I have a disagreement; it shouldn’t make us disagreeable. And the way I see it, even in homes, between husband and wife, there are disagreements about which school their children should go to, how much to pay for education, how much to spend on food. That doesn’t mean they reach out for the divorce courts.

"This is the issue really. So, even if I have been misunderstood, my intention is not to quarrel with anybody but to see a better Nigeria, which I am sure they also want to see.".

dimeji akinloye