FG begins process to unbundle NRC

President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has announced plans to modify the Constitution to enforce the Supreme Court’s judgment granting financial autonomy to local councils.

This was as the Federal Government began the process of amending the Nigeria Railway Cooperation (NRC) Act to unbundle the cooperation to allow private-sector investment.

The recent Supreme Court’s judgment on Local Government Autonomy reaffirmed the constitutional guarantees of administrative, financial and political independence for local councils.

The ruling sought to ensure local councils’ control over their finances and administration, strengthening grassroots governance and promoting local democracy.

However, the practical implementation of the ruling remained a challenge, as state governments continued to wield significant influence over local councils’ affairs.

Special Assistant on Media to the Senate President, Jackson Udom, in a statement, yesterday, quoted Akpabio to have made the statement while receiving All Progressives Congress (APC) members loyal to Senator John Akpanudoedehe in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

“The Senate, under my leadership, will tinker with the Constitution to ensure the judgment is fully implemented without loopholes,” Akpabio said.

President Bola Tinubu’s administration supports the move, aiming to deepen democracy and promote accountability.

Akpanudoedehe, a former APC scribe, had defected to the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) after losing out on the leadership of the party.

Speaking on the return of the party members, Akpabio said, “The only thing that is permanent in life is change. Before I came into the APC, the party never won even a councillorship seat in the state. When I came into the party in 2018, the then leaders of the party saw me as an enemy.”

“During the 2019 elections, the APC worked against the APC. We had the best chance to win the governorship and other elections in the state, but the then leaders refused to see it from that angle.”

Speaking on behalf of the returnees, who said they never left the party, even as their leader left, EteubongUmoh, Obong Akpan and Mrs Roseline Eyang said, “We never left the APC. We never joined any other party, because we know you as the leader of the party in the state. We all recognise the President of the Senate as our leader in the state. We refused to be weapons of war in the hands of anybody against you and the party leadership. We are happy that we are all here today. There is no division in the APC because we are now one united family.”

MINISTER of Transport, Sa’id Alkali, disclosed the unbundling plan during a tour of the Idu and Kubwa Train station, yesterday, in Abuja alongside some investors, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) and other critical stakeholders in the railway sector.

He said, “The idea is to unbundle NRC. Already, the National Assembly has started the process of unbundling the Nigeria Railway Act, so that we allow private investors to come and invest in all our rail corridors.”

On the plan to convert locomotive engines from diesel to CNG, he said 60 per cent cost of diesel would be saved from the retrofitting process of the engines.

Alkali declined the possibility of the retrofitted locomotive’s running 100 per cent on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), adding, “You convert to LNG 100 per cent because it is a heavy engine.

Normally, combustion is done with smaller engines like generators and cars. But these locomotives were manufactured on diesel and it is not possible technically to convert them to CNG or LNG 100 per cent.”