Acting President Yemi Osinbajo is expected to touch down in Lagos any moment from now as he is to kick-off the construction of the Lagos-Ibadan rail line.
Osinbajo, who inaugurated Justice Walter Onnoghen as the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) in the morning of Tuesday, March 7, 2017 is expected to flag-off the construction work to be done by the China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC).
Currently, the Ebute-Metta headquarters of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) is a beehive of activities as dignitaries await the arrival of Osinbajo.
Top members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), led by its national chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, as well as governors from states in the south-western part of Nigeria are currently at the venue.
The project is expect to cost N458 billion and spans 156.65 kilometres.
Days ago, reports said the federal government had made its counterpart funding for the project available and was awaiting that of the Chinese government which would come at the end of February 2017.
The agreement between Nigeria and the CCECC for the construction of the Lagos-Ibadan and Calabar-Port Harcourt rail lines was signed by Rotimi Amaechi, the transport minister, last year.
“The contract was awarded by the regime of former President Goodluck Jonathan for $11.917 billion.
“When we took over at the ministry, we renegotiated with the CCECC and we succeeded in reducing the contract sum from $11.917bn to $11.117bn and we are able to save $800m after the renegotiation,” Amaechi explained.
Source: NAIJ.COM
