Reps probe Jonathan’s N18.7b railway project

The House of Representatives has set machinery in motion to investigate the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan’s railway project between 2010 and 2014.
The lawmakers have mandated a yet-to-be constituted ad hoc Committee to investigate the Federal Ministry of Transport, the management of the Subsidy Reinvestment Programme (SURE-P), the management of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) and the contractors handling the rail rehabilitation project from 2010 to 2014.
According to the lawmakers, who voted overwhelmingly for the adoption of the motion sponsored by Solomon Ahwinahwi (PDP, Delta) regretted that despite billions of naira sunk into the project to upgrade the country’s rail transportation, there was little to show for it.
According to the lawmaker: “It is worrisome that the level of performance with respect to the rail track contracts, particularly the 463 km Port Harcourt-Makurdi rail track rehabilitation of Eastern line with a total of N19,963,752,330.20, out of which the NRC has paid N4,017,054,841.00, while SURE-P paid N5,594,021,377.07.”
Expatiating, he said: “With these payments, only about 3km of ballast has been done with 400 km left undone despite the total money released so far amounting to N9,661,076,318.00.
“We are not unaware of the report of a project monitoring Committee that not more than 3km of ballast has been done on the entire track network from Port Harcourt-Enugu-Makurdi out of a total of 463km of rail track, thus the N9,661,076,218.01 expended cannot be justified.
“Furthermore, the Abuja-Kaduna rail project had $841m as the project cost, out of which the China Exim bank provided a loan of $500m with about 25 percent of the project completed when the entire project was envisaged to have been completed in 2014.
“We are equally aware that the Lagos-Jebba track rehabilitation project was awarded at a cost of N12,293,390,000.00 with the payment made so far at N11,699,999,111.00 without any tangible work done.

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“Again, it is a fact that the Jebba-Kano track rehabilitation project had a contract sum of N12,169,237,337 with the payment of N10,423,318,023,537,023,111 without any appreciable work done.
“It is the same story with the Zaria-Kaura track rehabilitation project with N1,147,471,038 paid out of a total contract sum of N3,206,241,650.
“We were reliably informed that procurement and rehabilitation of wagons, coaches and locomotives (narrow gauge) were projected at a total sum of N6,502,914,067 with N4,071,008,628,.64 so far paid, while Kuru to Maiduguri track rehabilitation project has gulped N6,499,618,120 out of N23,720,359,045, all to no avail.
“Also, N718,205, 192 has so far been paid for the track rehabilitation consultancy fee of N19,963,752,330.
“It should be of concern to all Nigerians that despite all these billions sunk into this project, there was little or nothing to show for it as the coaches and locomotives running on these tracks ate still a relic of modern railway transport.”
The motion was unanimously adopted after it was put to a voice vote by the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara.

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