The Federal Government on Monday announced that it plans to attract over $3bn worth of investments to the rail sector to aid the transportation of people and goods.
This is coming as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Land Transport, Senator Gbenga Ashafa, expressed displeasure over the delay in the submission of the Ministry of Transportation’s budget performance to the National Assembly.
Speaking at the headquarters of the ministry during an oversight visit by the Joint Senate and House Committee on Land Transport, the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, urged the National Assembly to pass the National Transport Commission Bill that was before it.
He also stated that with the public-private partnership scheme that was planned for the rail sector, Nigeria would be harvesting over $3bn in investments in the near future.
Amaechi said, “The Warri-Ajaokuta-Baro-Abuja central railway has been properly placed on the path of the PPP platform and a Memorandum of Understanding has been signed with the China Railway Construction Corporation. When this arrangement comes through after being subjected to the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission’s evaluation and due process, it will draw a minimum of $3bn in investments for Nigeria.
“The MoU also has the construction and expansion of the Warri port and harbour, construction of a deep seaport and construction of an industrial park at Port Harcourt and Bonny Island.”
The minister also disclosed that for optimal performance, a section of the rail project had been conceded and would be led by General Electric.
Amaechi said, “When this concession agreement is finally in place, it will improve the economic and social standards of our people. This narrow gauge system will provide affordable and safe transport system to over 5.1 million passengers a year, and will account for over 20 million tonnes, amounting to almost 35 per cent of freight movement per year.”
Ashafa had earlier stated, “In furtherance of our responsibility, we are keen on scrutinising the capital expenditure/budgetary performance of the ministry during this visit and subsequent interactions you will have with our committee through the period of the 2017 appropriation process.
“It is important that I also chip it in that we have through our letter of 20th of October, 2016 requested for advance information on your budget performance and till date, we have received no response from you.”
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