The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) has announced that commercial activities will begin on the Lagos-Ibadan Railway on December 7.
This was disclosed when the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, visited for his monthly inspection of the ongoing work. The Minister was accompanied by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr. Magdalene Ajani and Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Fidet Okhiria.
At the Agege substation, the Minister expressed dismay at what he called the slow pace of work, even as he told the personnel of the contractor, the China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC) that he would return on-site on December 19 to ascertain the progress of work. He also debunked media reports which suggested that the government is requesting an additional $650million for the completion of the project.
The Federal Government had come under criticism for requesting an additional loan despite the claim that the job was at 90 per cent completion level.
Amaechi during its monthly inspection of the rail project clarified that the government never requested an additional loan for the project, saying the $650million loan that has long been approved was for the Lagos-Ibadan and Itakpe-Warri lines.
He decried the pace of work on the Lagos-Ibadan rail line project stating that inadequate manpower was slowing it down, appealing to the contractor to engage more hands to speed up the pace of work.
