The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, on Friday, said he needs $36bn to construct and link the entire nation by rail.
He disclosed this while featuring on NTA’s ‘Good Morning Nigeria’ programme, saying railway is capital intensive and this has made it difficult for private firms to invest in the sector.
Amaechi said the reason the Nigerian government had been borrowing funds from overseas was because she was able to come up with the needed collateral to take such loans.
He said, “If we had money, I would want to be the minister that initiated and completed the linking of Nigeria. All I need is $36bn. With $36bn, all of them (will be linked).
“The project from Itakpe to Abuja is $3.09bn. If we have that, we will start it tomorrow morning.”
The former governor of Rivers State said President Muhammadu Buhari had done exceedingly well in the area of infrastructure but said he feared that the gains of the Buhari administration would be reversed if the Peoples Democratic Party takes over in 2023.
He described Buhari as a unique President for the fact that he did not cancel former President Goodluck Jonathan’s projects but decided to continue them for the benefit of Nigerians.
Nigeria had borrowed $3.12bn from China as of March 31, 2020. The concessional loans are tied to several rail projects.
The projects include the Nigerian Railway Modernisation Project (Idu-Kaduna section); Abuja Light Rail Project; Four Airport Terminals Expansion Project (Abuja, Kano, Lagos and Port Harcourt); Nigerian Railway Modernisation Project (Lagos-Ibadan section) and Rehabilitation and Upgrading of Abuja-Keffi-Makurdi Road Project.