Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi on Thursday briefed President Muhammadu Buhari on the progress in railway transport.
Amaechi spoke with State House Correspondents after his meeting with the President.
What he said:
- He admitted that there were issues surrounding the railway transport.
- He added that President Buhari’s blood pressure will rise if he does not brief him about issues in the railway subsector.
He recalled that an approval had been given for the eastern flank of the railway modernisation “which has to do with from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri cutting across Aba, Owerri, Enugu, Umuahia to Makurdi, Abakiliki, Awka and Lafia down to Bauchi, Gombe, Yola and to Damaturu and ends at Borno.”
He stated: “That is why I was summoned. Don’t forget that the president sleeps and wakes up thinking about railway and if his BP will not rise, I must see him and tell him how far we’ve progressed. Once he hears that progress is being made he feels a bit happy.
A total of $16bn is required to build railway projects that have been approved.
“There are approvals, but we have to look for the money, the money is just not there. It is not easy, it is a total of about $16 billon and you don’t pluck $16 billion from the sky,” Amaechi said.
