The non-approval of the $30bn foreign loan by the National Assembly is delaying various rail projects across the country, Minister of Transport Chubuike Rotimi Amaechi has said.
Amaechi said the Federal Executive Council (FEC) had approved the various projects and forwarded the loan request to the legislature but that the non-approval has made it impossible for the projects to take off.
The joint committee is investigating allegations that the government has abandoned the Port Harcourt-Enugu-Maiduguri rail line and concentrated on the Lagos-Kano axis.
He said once the projects were completed, movements of cargoes would be done via rail, which would reduce the pressures on Nigerian roads.
Senator Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko (APC, Sokoto) sought to know if there was any rail contract awarded that would cut across Sokoto State to which the minister said there was one from Jibiya in Katsina State to Sokoto and Kebbi states.
