By Nimot Sulaimon
Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola has defended his principal, saying that President Muhammadu Buhari has all legal rights to award contracts or borrow money till his last minute in office.
Fashola stated this on Thursday during the flag-off ceremony for the construction and dualisation of the 49km long Akure-Ado-Ekiti Expressway.
Reacting to the criticism against the outgoing Buhari regime awarding contracts a few days before the expiration of the tenure, the minister declared that the outgoing government had the right to award contracts till the last hour.
Fashola said, “Buhari can award contracts till the last minute. So, we will work till the last minute. Those criticising us are an ignoramus.
“Some people are asking why we are still awarding contracts with few days to go, but they have forgotten that the tenure of this present administration ends at midnight of May 28, 2023, at 11.59 pm and when it is 12am, Bola Tinubu takes over the government and that is why we are still working.
“They forget that you, the people of Nigeria, through your representatives, have passed a budget for us to implement. Some people are still saying why are they borrowing a few days to their expiration, it’s because we don’t have enough money and people want infrastructure.
“If you don’t want to borrow, that means the government will increase your taxes because that is another way to pay the deficits and that is how it is done in any part of the world.”
