There is a bit of fuss over the Buhari administration's decision to spend about $2 billion on a railway contract that would link Nigeria to Niger Republic.
The contract which would cost $1,959,744,723.71, was approved by the Federal Government on Wednesday, as disclosed by the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, following a meeting of the Federal Executive Council presided over by the President.
Amaechi while addressing State House correspondents at the end of the meeting, said that the money approved for the development of the proposed rail line linking Kano-Dutse-Katsina-Jibia and to Maradi in Niger Republic was inclusive of Value Added Tax.
The 248-kilometre line which if completed, is expected to aid the transportation of crude oil, is designed to connect three Northern states – Kano, Katsina and Jigawa states – as well as seven senatorial districts, according to PUNCH.
The minister said, “The first approval for our ministry is the award of contract for the design, manufacture, supply, testing and inauguration of one railway crane of 150-ton capacity for emergency and recovery of rolling stocks.
“This is to sort out situations of accident on the track. It is for a total cost of N3,049,544,000.
“The second one is the award of contract for the development of the proposed Kano-Katsina-Jibia to Matadi rail line in Niger Republic and to Dutse, the capital of Jigawa, for a total cost of $1,959,744,723.71, inclusive of 7.5% VAT.”
But the opposition Peoples Democratic Party and some civil rights groups took issues with FG’s decision, saying the project was a misplacement of priority in a country facing intractable problems of insecurity and harsh economic conditions arising from hikes in fuel price and electricity tariff.
In a reaction to the development, the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Kola Ologbindiyan, said, “The problem of this regime is that it has never got its priorities right and at the end of the day, Nigerians are the ones who suffer from these poor choices by these people.
“Let’s even look at it from the point of view of the economy. What is the economic benefit of this project to Nigeria. The Nigerian economy, as it is today, is not in a state to contain this kind of wasteful spending.”