Lagos-Ibadan New Rail Project “Worth N458Bn” To Begin In February

The Federal Government has said that it will commence the construction of a standard gauge rail line from Lagos to Ibadan in February 2017.
The Managing Director, Nigerian Railway Corporation, Mr. Fidet Okheria, revealed that the project, which has been awarded to the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, is being jointly funded by the Nigerian and Chinese governments, and will cost about $1.5bn (N458bn).
The MD said that the Federal Government had already made its counterpart funds available, while the Chinese government promised to release its own by the end of January.
The revelation is coming about six months after the Federal Government and the CCECC signed an agreement for the project.
The new Lagos-Ibadan rail, spanning 156.65 kilometres, according to him is a double line, which is the first phase of a new Lagos-Kano standard gauge line.
The new line, when completed in 18 months, would coexist with the old narrow gauge rail line, Okheria said.
In a chat with The Punch in Lagos on Friday, shortly after receiving a leadership award from the ECOWAS Youth Council, the NRC helmsman said:
“The Chinese government promises that by the end of the month to release its counterpart funds. And the project should, therefore, start in the next one month.”
The contract for the 2,733km new Lagos-Kano rail was first awarded by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2006 at a cost of $8.3bn to the Chinese company (CCECC) but could not be executed due to paucity of funds.
It was re-awarded to the same contractor by the Goodluck Jonathan administration in 2012 for execution in six phases, starting with the Lagos-Ibadan stretch.
Okheria also said arrangements were being finalised to start the construction of the Lagos-Calabar and Kaduna-Kano rail lines.
The Federal Government and the CCECC last year signed the contract for the construction of the Lagos-Ibadan and Calabar-Port Harcourt rail lines after the two parties agreed to cut down the total cost for the projects from $11.917bn to $11.117bn.

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