Emmanuel Adeyemi, Lokoja
The National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) has said that contrary to some media reports, there was no time the Senate queried it over an N800 million security vote when it appeared before the Senate last Friday to defend its 2018 budget proposal.
In a press statement signed by the General Manager Corporate Affairs of NIWA, Mr. Tayo Fadile, copies of which was made available to newsmen, in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, NIWA said in the entire budget defence by it, there was no single items that captured the issue of security vote and said the publications made on Friday in some national dailies, over the issue were ‘false and misleading’.
The statement NIWA reads in parts, “The distinguished Senators of the Marine Transport Committee in the Senate of the National Assembly were referring to the Council for Regulation of Freight Forwarding of Nigeria (CRFFN) and not National Inland Waterways Authority ( NIWA) as erroneously reported.
“The truth in respect of the story can be confirmed from the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Marine Transport, Senator Sani Yerima and the video tape of the proceedings can also be made available by the Clerk of the committee of Marine Transport of the Senate.
“As a matter of fact, NIWA was the first agency to be attended to by the distinguished senators, while the CRFFN was the last agency that the committee invited, secondly in the entire budget defence of NIWA, there was no single item that captured the issue of security and the acting Managing Director of NiWA did not make any comment regarding the security issue as reported by the Newspapers ,since NIWA did not ask for any security vote in the 2018 budget proposal.
“It is not also true that 2017 was the first time NIWA will get approval from the National Assembly. NIWA was established in 1987 and has been securing approval from the the National Assembly since its inception as an Authority” it added.
The statement, therefore, called on the general public to disregard the said publications.