Lagos-Ibadan Rail Project Cost Below $2bn, FG Insists
The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Transportation, Mr. Sabiu. Zakari, has said that the total contract sum of the Lagos-Ibadan railway project is US$1, 581,847,371.00 as against the US$2 billion that had been alleged, adding that the cost index/km was US$4.09million as against the US$13.6million also alleged by a section of the media.
Zakari, in a statement by the Acting Director of Press of the Ministry, Anastasia Ogbonna, noted that the clarification became imperative following insinuations by some media houses that the project was inflated over and above a nonexistent one in Ghana.
He added that information has it that the said Ghanaian project was still at conceptual stage as there were neither construction designs nor cost estimates
While speaking with journalists in his office, the Permanent Secretary noted that the Lagos-Ibadan railway project was being executed in the spirit of transparency and accountability of which the present administration stands for.
According to him, “to give credence to the fact that there is no basis for comparism as raised by the allegations, the Ghanaian government has since refuted the publication,” describing it as “containing a lot of factual inaccuracies.”
He further explained that the Lagos-Ibadan railway was actually 386km since it is a double track rail line as against the 156km alleged which is just the distance from Ebute Meta (Lagos) and Ibadan terminal stations only.
Of note too, according to him, was the fact that railway project does not depend solely on the distance between terminal points but rely on various factors which include but not limited to terrain, core operation accessories, land acquisition and compensation, earthworks, bridges, culverts and stations.
Furthermore, he stated that due diligence was followed in the award of the contract as the project was approved by the Federal Executive Council after a Certificate of No Objection by the Bureau of Public Procurement was issued.
The first segment of the project was approved in 2012 while the current administration approved the second segment to link Ebute Meta (Lagos) to Apapa port complex to ease the perennial traffic gridlock that has defied.