Sunday Aborisade, Abuja

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Land Transportation, Senator Gbenga Ashafa, has said that Nigerians could still scrutinise contents of the 2016 budget, which was passed into law last week by both chambers of the National Assembly.

Ashafa, who stated this in an interview with our correspondent explained that any individual or group who believed that the budget was not properly worked on by the lawmakers, should wait till the document is published to make their observations.

He explained that the National Assembly will make the 2016 budget open to the public once it was assented to by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The senator, however, assured Nigerians that his colleagues in the upper chamber and those in the House of Representatives worked hard to resolve the issue of budget padding and other fraudulent practices discovered in the document.

He said, “We have promised the World that we will throw the budget open to members of the public when it is passed. Anybody who believes that the figures are still controversial, are free to point it out.

“I can however assure you that a lot of work had been put into this budget. Experts had been called, government officials, politicians and civil society groups all made inputs before its eventual passage.

“I see the interest shown by Nigerians in the budget as a positive phenomenon because without the enthusiasm, we might not be able to put in as much effort as we put in.

“So everybody is welcome to look at the budget again once it, criticise it reasonably and sensibly and then lets move forward because Nigerians are waiting for all of us”

Meanwhile, Ashafa has said that the inauguration of rural electrification projects by the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, within the Lagos East Senatorial district, will accelerate development in the area.

He said, “The completion of the rural electrification project linking 157 communities in Ibeju-Lekki is the fulfillment of a promise made to Lagosians by the Governor of Lagos State.”

The Senator noted that by ensuring that the 157 communities in Lagos East who have been without electricity for about five years, benefit from the Light Up Lagos project, was heartwarming and commendable.

He also said the action was a confirmation of the track record of excellence which Ambode was fast garnering.