The Federal
Government will commence the construction of a standard gauge rail line from
Lagos to Ibadan next month, the Managing Director, Nigerian Railway
Corporation, Mr. Fidet Okheria, has said.
The project,
which has been awarded to the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation,
is being jointly funded by the Nigerian and Chinese governments, and will cost
about $1.5bn (N458bn).
Already, the
Federal Government has made its counterpart funds available, while China
promises to release its own by the end of this month, according to Okheria.
This is coming
about six months after the Federal Government and the CCECC signed an agreement
for the project.
The NRC
helmsman, who spoke with our correspondent exclusively in Lagos on Friday
shortly after receiving a leadership award from the ECOWAS Youth Council, said,
“The Chinese government promises that by the end of the month to release its
counterpart funds. And the project should, therefore, start in the next one
month.”
The new
Lagos-Ibadan rail, spanning 156.65 kilometres, is a double line, which is the
first phase of a new Lagos-Kano standard gauge line.
The new line,
when completed in 18 months, would coexist with the old narrow gauge rail line,
Okheria said.
The contract
for the 2,733km new Lagos-Kano rail was first awarded by former President
Olusegun Obasanjo in 2006 at a cost of $8.3bn to the Chinese company (CCECC)
but could not be executed due to paucity of funds.
It was
re-awarded to the same contractor by the Goodluck Jonathan administration in
2012 for execution in six phases, starting with the Lagos-Ibadan stretch.
Okheria also
said arrangements were being finalised to start the construction of the
Lagos-Calabar and Kaduna-Kano rail lines.
The Federal
Government and the CCECC last year signed the contract for the construction of
the Lagos-Ibadan and Calabar-Port Harcourt rail lines after the two parties
agreed to cut down the total cost for the projects from $11.917bn to $11.117bn.
The Minister
of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, who signed on behalf of the Federal
Government, had said the cost reduction for the projects was achieved after the
contract was renegotiated by both parties.
“The contract
was awarded by the regime of former President Goodluck Jonathan for $11.917bn.
When we took over at the ministry, we renegotiated with the CCECC and we
succeeded in reducing the contract sum from $11.917bn to $11.117bn and we are
able to save $800m after the renegotiation,” he had explained.
Amaechi also
said the projects should be completed in two years, adding that the railways
would be connected to the seaports.
For the
Lagos-Calabar rail line, the minister had said the CCECC would “commence the
construction of the first segment with Calabar-Uyo and Aba-Port Harcourt, and
this will include all the seaports on this route. But the entire contract
covers Calabar, Uyo, Port Harcourt, Yenogoa, Otuoke, Ughelli, Warri, Benin,
Agbor, Asaba, Onitsha and back to Benin, Ore, Sagamu and Lagos.”
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