There was outrage on Tuesday, as shocking facts emerged, that the Transportation Minister, Rotimi Amaechi, has excluded the
South-East geopolitical zone from the rail projects embarked upon by President Muhammadu Buhari.
This came as Buhari had earlier asked the Senate to approve the $5.851 billion loan request from China Exim Bank. The heightened tension came to the bare on Tuesday, as the Senate summoned Amaechi, to appear before its Committee on Local and Foreign Debts, to explain the reasons for the exclusion of the South- East zone from the rail projects, in the request for approval of the Federal Government’s 2016 – 2018 External Borrowing (Rolling Plan).
The summon was sequel to a motion by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, which he titled: “Outright Omission of Eastern Corridor Rail Line, in the request for approval of Federal Government 2016 -2018 External Borrowing (Rolling Plan).”
Abaribe recalled, that on April 26, the Federal Government laid before the National Assembly, a request seeking an approval for a loan of $5.851 billion, from China Exim Bank, to execute the modernization of Lagos – Kano, Kano – Kaduna, Lagos – Ibadan, and Lagos – Calabar, rail segment.
He observed with dismay, that the above sections of the rail line that the loan was being sought for, covered only a section of the country, which is classified as the Western corridor or sections, leaving out completely from the request, the Eastern section of the rail segment, which has a link between the South-East to North-East part of the rail line.
According to him, since the loan will be repaid for by all sections of the country, every part of Nigeria should be taken into consideration. Abaribe, noted that the Railway Master Plan developed by the Ministry of Transport, was not referred to in the current borrowing plan.
He argued that for the railway project to have a meaningful impact on the development of the country, it should cover all parts of Nigeria. In his contribution, the Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweramadu, condemned the exclusion.
He lamented that the neglect of infrastructural development in the South-East, by successive governments dated back to 1999, when this democracy came on stream. Ekweremadu, said for every part of Nigeria to have standardised railway lines, “we must agree to obtain the necessary loan that will give us standard gauge, in all parts of the country.
