A faction of the pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, has faulted the proposed $60bn railway project announced by the Federal Government, raising doubts about its viability and transparency.
In a statement jointly signed by its leader, Oba Oladipo Olaitan, and National Publicity Secretary, Justice Faloye, the group said the plan amounted to a further trivialisation of Nigeria’s railway development, particularly at a time when the national debt had ballooned by over N100tn in just two years.
The project was unveiled by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, who disclosed that De-Sadel Nigeria Limited and China Liancai Petroleum Investment Holdings Limited planned to construct a gas infrastructure and a 4,000km high-speed rail line across Nigeria.
The firms reportedly presented a $60bn proof of funds, with financing said to come from the “Asian Development Investment Bank.”
But Afenifere dismissed the claims as questionable.
The group said, “First, there is befuddling confusion regarding the source of funding. There is no such bank called ‘Asian Development Investment Bank.’ There is the Asian Development Bank, but it has no such project on its books. Secondly, China Liancai Petroleum Investment Holdings Limited is a privately-owned company in Hong Kong with no track record of railway construction. How then could it undertake a project larger than the aborted $12bn Lagos-Calabar line, which was China’s biggest foreign investment?”
The group recalled that segments of the Lagos-Kano and Lagos-Calabar rail projects had already been awarded to credible Chinese firms for far less, questioning how the government arrived at the $60bn estimate and the claimed 4,000km stretch.
“Afenifere has closely followed railway development since 2015 and is alarmed at the serial trivialisation of this critical driver of economic growth. From the cancellation of the Chinese-backed Lagos-Calabar railway to passing contracts to firms without financial or technical capacity, the process has been riddled with foul play. This new plan risks being another diversionary tactic,” it added.
The group stressed that railway expansion remained central to its own development agenda, advocating massive direct labour programmes to deliver 10km of rail lines daily and stimulate employment, citing examples such as Roosevelt’s New Deal in the United States.
“Afenifere implores the Tinubu administration to take massive railway development seriously and not fritter away the nation’s opportunities on false promises or contracts to cronies. Railways are too critical to national development to be turned into avenues for patronage,” the faction stated.
