A Nigerian Rail transport expert, Olawale Rasheed, has said that the recent announcement by the African Development Bank to release $350 million to the Nigerian Government for the construction of the Kano to Maradi in Niger rail link will not affect the ongoing unbundling process of the Nigeria Railway Corporation.
Rasheed told the Punch newspaper on Tuesday that the AFDB intervention was commendable and that the fund in question won’t be paid to the NRC, but rather to the Nigerian Government through its Ministry of Transportation.
He said, “The ministry manages the critical projects in the rail sector. There is a director of rail services at the Federal Ministry of Transportation. He oversees the activities of the NRC under the permanent secretary and the honourable minister.
“So, the funding is not going to the NRC. It would be administered from the ministry alongside all the federal financial management processes. The regulatory structure will enforce the transparent application of the loan from AfDB. We should also note that AfDB has a strict monitoring mechanism.
“The funding has nothing to do with the plan to unbundle the Nigeria Railway Corporation. The ministry is the coordinating point for the implementation of the project. NRC is not playing a direct role in the execution process. So the unbundling process is not impacted in whatever way by the Afdb support for the Maradi- Kano rail project.â€
The report recalled that on Monday, The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Land Transport, Senator Adamu Aliero, announced the AFDB’s decision to fund the construction of the rail line connecting Kano to Maradi.
This, according to the lawmaker, was an outcome of the recent visit of President Bola Tinubu to China to finalise negotiations for securing 85 per cent of the funding necessary for railway modernisation and rehabilitation.
The industry expert described the intervention as a significant movement by AfDB.
Rail transport expert said that the Kano-Maradi rail link was important to Nigeria’s geopolitical interest in the greater Sahel region.
He noted that the AfDB’s intervention would enhance the implementation of the trans-regional rail project.
GIK/APA
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