The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the sum of $328.87 million for consultancy services for the supervision of all the ongoing railway projects in the country.
It also approved N115.4 billion for the publication of the proposed Kano-Kazaure-Kongolam highway in Katsina State from a single carriageway to a dual carriageway.
These announcements were made after the week’s virtual FEC meeting by the Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi and his Works and Housing counterpart, Babatunde Fashola (SAN), as well as the Minister of State for Environment, Sharon Ikeazor and her Health counterpart, Dr Olorunimbe Mamora.
The meeting was presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
Amaechi said he presented two memoranda on the consultancy services and the concession of the Onitsha River Port.
“…The first one has to do with the contract for consultancy services for the supervision of the various railway projects. We have about three railway projects, and their construction has not started. They include the Port Harcourt-Maiduguri, Kano-Maradi and the Abuja-Warri lines.
“The second one is that the Cabinet approved an agreement for the Ministry of Transportation to concession the Onitsha River Port to a company called Universal Elysium Consortium. They are to manage the river port for 30 years,” he said.
When asked why the Federal Government abandoned the agreements with China on the construction of a railway across the country, Amaechi said: “Actually, that is why there is a delay. We were waiting on the Chinese to give us the loans we applied for. Till today, they’ve not replied. They kept delaying us. Will the delay extend our tenure? The answer is no.
“We’ve gone to Standard Chartered Bank. While they’ve done financial closure, they’ve approved some level of funding. We are also pursuing the Port Harcourt-Maiduguri line with Standard Chartered Bank. The Lagos-Kano, part of it will come from Standard Chartered Bank, and part of it will come from some commercial banks in China,” he explained.
