The Federal Government of Nigeria needs US $40bn to finance the ongoing Lagos-Ibadan railway project. This is according to the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi.
Meanwhile, the government is negotiating with contractors handling the project to raise funds for the project, stressing that everything will be done to finish the project this year.
“We need between US $36bn and US $40bn. Only God knows where we are going to get it. But I may apply what I did as Rivers State governor. When there is a project, we put on the table how much we have. We will just award the contract, believing that God will do it for us. You will say that it is naive but at the end of the day we got money to pay the contractors. The Government will also focus on Kano-Kazure, Daura, Katsina, Jibya and link Maradi in Niger Republic, as part of regional railway inter-connectivity of the ECOWAS sub-region,” said Mr. Amaechi.
According to Mr. Amaechi, procurement of the locomotives and coaches will ease movement on the Abuja-Kaduna rail service.
“This is indeed a clear demonstration of this government’s commitment to accomplish a functional and efficient national rail transport. Such commitment has brought us into tangible ongoing rail project,” said Mr. Amaechi.
“It would be recalled that the President commissioned and flagged-off commercial rail operation, the first Nigerian standard gauge rail, which runs from Abuja in Idu to Rigassa in Kaduna, in July 2016. This service has continued to be a success story and evidence that this government is committed to developing an efficient rail system that will meet the expectation of Nigerians,” he added.
