House member Hon. Dr. Simon Mwadkwon Fwet, who currently represents Barkin Ladi/Riyom Federal Constituency of Plateau State in the House of Representatives Abuja, has alleged in an interview with New Telegraph, that the actual purpose of the railway contract linking Nigeria with Niger Republic, by the Buhari administration, is to ensure the free flow of Fulani herdsmen into the country.
Mwadkwon also lamented the fact that the said railway contract is expected to be executed with borrowed funds, which every Nigeria is responsible for whether they are in support of the project or not.
He said, "My perception is that the railway is a plan to ease the movement of herdsmen from Niger to Nigeria. I think that is just the truth. It’s going to aid that. But you see I listened to Garba Shehu trying to defend Mr President or the Federal Government initiative on that rail construction, mind you it’s going to be constructed with the money that is borrowed.
"So, each and every one of us is going to pay for that rail because it is tax payers’ money they are going to use. And they have not consulted us on why that should be done. You recall during the 2019 elections, Niger people came to Nigeria and they termed it as solidarity to make sure that Buhari won the election in Nigeria and which is a terrible thing.
"I asked the question then while INEC was addressing us in Hill Station Hotels in Jos, I said that our sovereignty is been tempered with if we have a country you know coming in thousands in solidarity with person we are going to elect as our own President.
"Are we now saying that the Niger people are going to elect a President for Nigeria or it is going to be a President elected by Nigerians? So, the railway thing is just to kind of continue bringing foreigners into Nigeria to continue the aspect of what they want to do.
"Some people have argued that it has to do with trade and it’s going to boost our economy and so on and so forth. If you look at the volume of trade between Nigeria and Benin Republic, even Togo and Cotonou is more than a hundred times volume of trade between Nigeria and Niger!
"So one cannot explain it; he has to just build a rail in a desert for who? And Nigeria has not been linked because there are a lot of cities that have not been linked in Nigeria by rail, I think the one we can boast with is the one we have from Abuja to Kaduna that was even built by the past administration and they are trying to build Lagos to Ibadan now.
"So, what is the economic importance or even the socio-cultural importance of that rail from Nigeria to Niger? And some body will come on air and tell us that it is at the border town, Madi, Madi is at center of Niger for Christ save! Garba Shehu was trying to say the railway is between the border town of Nigeria and Niger. Was it that Niger built a road to some level and then there was a meeting point, that is not the case! It is completely a Nigerian thing and I see it as a waste; that is just the truth."