Plans to unbundle NRC underway as committee resumes meeting

The Federal Government of Nigeria has resumed activities aimed at unbundling the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) into four components. The committee set up by the former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has returned to deliberations.

The committee is chaired by the Minister of State for Transportation, Prince Ademola Adegoroye, with industry stakeholders as members.
Members include Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers Council, Emmanuel Jime; Director of Rail Transport Services, Adekunle Yusuf; Managing Director of NRC, Fidet Okhiria and Director of Legal, NRC, Pius Oteh.

Chairmen of the Land Transport committees of the Senate and House of Representatives as well as the CEO of Bethlehem Rail, Rowland Ataguba, are part of the committee.

The committee was inaugurated in 2022 but activities slowed down following the resignation of Amaechi as a minister to pursue his presidential ambition.

The Minister of Transportation, Mu’azu Sambo, who has revived the ambition of dismantling NRC, stressed the need to ensure that the committee achieves a tangible milestone before May 29, when the next administration would assume leadership.

According to him, emerging consensus favours the breaking up of NRC into a regulator, asset manager and operations companies. Ataguba, while speaking to newsmen after a closed-door meeting in Abuja, stated that the unbundling plan was a fallout lesson from the past.

Ataguba said: “These are exciting times for the railway sector as we are on the threshold of better days. This is something we have canvassed decades and now it is here.”

A member of the committee representing the private sector revealed that much of the work was carried out at the subcommittee level with the committee of the whole left with the consensus building.