Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi has said all he would need to construct and complete the linking of all railways in Nigeria, is a total sum of $36 billion.
Gatekeepers News reports that Amaechi, during the ‘Good Morning Nigeria’ programme’ on NTA on Friday, explained that railway is capital intensive and that has made it difficult for private firms to invest in the sector.
According to him, the Federal Government have been borrowing funds from overseas because only the government was able to come up with the needed collateral to take such loans.
Asked why the Kaduna-Abuja railway had not been linked to Lokoja, Amaechi responded, “If we had money, I would want to be the minister that initiated and completed the linking of Nigeria. All I need is $36bn. With $36bn, all of them (will be linked).
“The project from Itakpe to Abuja is $3.09bn. If we have that, we will start it tomorrow morning.”
The former governor of Rivers State said President Muhammadu Buhari had done exceedingly well in the area of infrastructure but said he feared that the gains of Buhari’s administration would be reversed if the Peoples Democratic Party takes over in 2023.
The Minister described Buhari as a unique President for not cancelling former President Goodluck Jonathan’s projects but decided to continue them for the benefit of Nigerians.
Nigeria has borrowed a total of $3.12bn from China as of March 31, 2020. The concessional loans are tied to several rail projects which include the Nigerian Railway Modernisation Project (Idu-Kaduna section); Abuja Light Rail Project; Four Airport Terminals Expansion Project (Abuja, Kano, Lagos and Port Harcourt); Nigerian Railway Modernisation Project (Lagos-Ibadan section) and Rehabilitation and Upgrading of Abuja-Keffi-Makurdi Road Project.
