The Nigerian Senate has expressed optimism about the railway modernisation currently ongoing in the country. The Senate also stated that it will ensure every legislative process in favour of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) to achieve its mandate on railway modernisation.

Chairman of the Senate Committee on Land Transport, Adamu Aliero, stated this yesterday in Abeokuta, Ogun State, after a facility tour of the community on the railway facilities. Members of the committee included the chairman, Vice Chairman Benson Friday Kombowei, and members Sharafadeen Alli, Tony Nwoye, Kelvin Chukwu, Plang Dicket, and Clerk of the Committee Solomon Jokotoye, who were on a tour of the NRC facilities.

Aliero said the committee is willing and committed to ensuring that the NRC meets its mandates by providing all the legislative support it is supposed to give to the corporation. He mentioned that just recently, the supplementary appropriation bill was brought to the National Assembly, and in that bill, which the National Assembly passed into law, over N530 billion was allocated as counterpart funding for railway modernisation and rehabilitation in Nigeria.

According to him, 85 per cent of the funding will be sourced from abroad, either from the China Exim Bank, the IFC, or the African Development Bank.

He said, “Just last week, we were at General Gowon’s lecture for his 90th birthday, and the President of the African Development Bank told us that $350 million will be released to the Federal Government of Nigeria.”

He stated that for the construction of the railway between Kano and Maradi, the President of Nigeria was recently in China for negotiations.

He said, “We are impressed with what we have seen so far from Lagos to Abeokuta and even up to Ibadan, as we have been reliably informed by the acting managing director of the NRC.

“What we have seen today is of global standard, similar to what we see in Europe, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. The rail line is now operational from Lagos to Ibadan, and we are able to ensure that the station has been linked to the seaport, which is particularly important. We have also been informed that about 14 freight services are being provided by the Nigerian Railway Corporation.”

However, he urged state governments to tap into the modernisation programme of the railway by providing accessible roads to link railway stations within their territories.