On Wednesday, the Federal Executive Council approved spending N453.90 billion on rolling stock, operation, and maintenance equipment for the Kano-Maradi standard gauge rail line that is currently being built.
The sum also includes N510.93 million for the purchase of four specialized fire service and search and rescue vans for the seaports of Port Harcourt, Lagos, Tincan Island, and the Nigerian Ports Authority’s Marina headquarters.
After the Council meeting this week, which was presided over by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), Mu’azu Sambo, the Minister of Transportation, made this information available to State House correspondents. in Abuja, at the Presidential Villa.
The 248-kilometer rail line will begin in 2021 and run through Kano and other cities like Kazaure in Bauchi State, Daura, and Mashi in Katsina State; Dutse in Jigawa Express, the bordertown of Jibia, prior to ending in Niger Republic’s exchange and agrarian center point of Maradi.
Rotimi Amaechi, a former Transport Minister, said that the line has 15 stations and is expected to carry 9,364 passengers and 3000 metric tons of cargo each day.
However, there has been a lot of opposition to the project, especially from lawmakers.
According to reports, the National Assembly Joint Committee on Land and Marine Transport criticized the proposed rail project in November 2021.
Yet, talking on Wednesday, Sambo made sense of, “The update looked for board’s thought and endorsement for the honor of agreement for the obtainment of moving stock, activity or support gear for the Kano-Maradi standard measure rail line that is at present under development.
“MSSRs Mota-Engil Nigeria Limited, the contractors handling this particular project, were awarded the contract for the sum of $984,722,302.5, which includes seven and a half percent VAT and a completion period of four years.”
Sambo also said that the Nigerian Ports Authority’s Transport Ministry submitted a second memo “for the award of contract for the construction and supply of four customised Fire Service search and rescue vans for extrication of accident victims for Rivers Ports in Port Harcourt, Lagos Port complex, Tincan Island Port, and the Marina headquarters of the NPA, all in Lagos.”
Sambo was speaking on behalf of the Nigerian Ports Authority.
“Council considered the memorandum and approved the award of the contract in favor of Messrs. All Works Commercial Company Limited for a sum of N510,934,600, inclusive of seven and a half percent VAT, with a completion period of nine months,” according to the memorandum.
Mohammed Abubakar, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, also spoke, and he said that his ministry got the council to approve a new memo on the National Agricultural Seed Policy for 2022.
He said Nigeria had been working the 2010 strategy reconsidered in 2015 preceding the most recent update in 2022.
According to Abubakar, the current revision was made to meet seed quality standards that have been approved worldwide and to guarantee food security.
He elaborated, “With the continuous development of technology, seeds are constantly upgraded, standardized at four to five with a variety of vitamins.” Genetically modified seeds or organisms are another issue.
Therefore, the goal of this revision is to adhere to global yield best practices. Our farmers must have access to fortified, high-quality seeds of the highest quality, seeds that can produce a profit, seeds that can produce again, and seeds that can compete on the global market. This serves as the foundation for this specific policy.