Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari believes in the development of real infrastructure and not stomach infrastructure, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has said.
Fashola, who disclosed this while playing host to the Governor-elect of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi, in his office, also stated that it was wrong for people to claim that the current administration was the same as the previous one.
Reacting to some of the requests tendered by Fayemi during his courtesy call on the minister, Fashola stated that the Federal Government was politically party blind when it comes to developing Nigeria, adding that the President’s target was to develop real but not stomach infrastructure.
He said, “Our developmental initiatives are party blind, they are people focused, they are Nigeria centred. The housing project, federal secretariat project, transmission projects are all projects that were initiated while the opposition party governed the state (Ekiti). I went there on a tour to ensure that these projects were going on and what this (courtesy) visit does is just to bring that into sharper focus now.
“People say, in my view wrongly, that there is no difference between us and them (opposition). There are lots of differences and these can be seen in our attitude to development, spending, the type of infrastructure that President Buhari believes in, real infrastructure, not stomach infrastructure.”
He added, “There are fundamental ideological differences about how an economy and a government should be run. I think people must focus on those differences about how this government is doing more with fewer resources.”
Fashola said the government was focused on taking development to the grassroots through developing real infrastructure like good roads, rail, power, etc, in order to support farmers, workers and a huge percentage of Nigerians.
The minister congratulated the governor-elect but told him that “I don’t envy you because this is not an easy time to be a leader. However, I am sure that your previous experience in the state and at the national level will ultimately serve the interest of Ekiti people.”
Fayemi had earlier stated that his courtesy call on the minister was to solicit the assistance of the FMPWH for developmental works in Ekiti.
He said, “This is more of a private courtesy call on the minister and I am delighted to be here. I’ve come to solicit for assistance, his (Fashola’s) ministry is very crucial to the success of our state, particularly with regards to the developmental works around infrastructure such as power, housing and works.”
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