The Senate on Tuesday 8th November, 2016 mandated its committees on Privatization, Land Transport, Finance, Anti-Corruption, Financial Crimes, Special Duties, Trade and Investment and Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters to investigate the procedure adopted in the engagement of a US Company (General Electric) for the concession of the Lagos-Kano and Port Harcourt-Maiduguri rail lines.
Moving a motion titled ‘‘Urgent need to investigate the granting of Concession of the Western (Lagos-Kano) and Eastern (Port Harcourt-Maiduguri) Rail Lines to General Electric a US Company’’ Sen. Albert Bassey Akpan (PDP:Akwa-Ibom) noted that the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) and the Nigeria Infrastructure Advisory Facility (NIAF) with the approval of the National Council on Privatization in April 2015, developed a road map for the concessioning of the Western (Lagos-Kano) and Eastern (Port-Harcourt-Maiduguri) rail lines despite the fact that the Nigerian Railway Corporation Act 2004 did not envisage a concessioning until recently, where an amendment has been proposed in that regard. He mentioned that the BPE had already engaged the Global Infrastructure Facility (GIF) and the World Bank in discussions on accessing funding for Transactions Advisers while the Ministry of Transport has formally appointed Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) and Greenwich as financial advisers.
Sen. Akpan added that the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo inaugurated a steering Committee and a technical Committee in line with the provision of Section 11 (k) of the Public Enterprises (Privatization and Commercialization) Act 1999 to fast track the process of concessioning the rail lines. He further observed that the Minister of Transportation, Hon. Chibuike Amaechi had in an interview with the CNBC published by the Vanguard Newspaper of 30th June, 2016 stated that a US company (General Electric) has already been engaged for the project with a potential investment of over $2billion by the company in the Nigerian railway sector, to revive the Lagos-Kano narrow gauge and the Port Harcourt-Maiduguri narrow gauge.
He expressed worries that contrary to the provisions of the Bureau of Public Enterprise Act 1999, the Federal Government had already constituted a task force headed by the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun to drive the transaction process. Sen. Akpan wondered how the Minister of Transport, Hon. Chibuike Amaechi engaged General Electric in June 2016 when the steering committee and technical committees to negotiate with bidders for the concession was inaugurated by the vice president in August 2016 and stated that the Ministry of Transport had violated the provisions of the Public Enterprises (Privatization & Commercialization) Act, 1999 by unilaterally engaging the General Electric for the concessioning of the Western (Lagos-Kano) and Eastern (Port Harcourt-Maiduguri).
