Rotimi Amaechi speaks on the railway during a special programme
aired on Channels Television on October 1, 2020.
The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, says
President Muhammadu Buhari has given his approval for Nigeria to
take loans.
Amaechi disclosed this during a special programme which held on
Channels Television on Thursday to mark Nigeria’s diamond
independence anniversary.
According to him, the borrowings were done for infrastructural
development in several parts of the country.
“The President (Muhammadu Buhari) allows us to borrow and we are
borrowing to develop and things will change,” he said.
Speaking on rail transportation, the Minister said Nigeria had
money from the excess crude oil account before Buhari’s
administration in 2015.
He argued that when crude oil was sold at $120 per barrel, the
total amount meant to develop the nation’s railway across the 36
states and the FCT was between $35 to $40billion.
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“It wasn’t like this before. We had money to construct this
railway. The total fund that we needed to complete the entire
railway in the country was about $36 to $40billion.
“We had this kind of money when we were selling crude at $110 to
$120 per barrel. Now, the money is no longer there,” Amaechi
said.
While reiterating the Federal Government’s commitment to
delivering laudable projects for infrastructural developments, the
Minister asked Nigerians for more time.
He however explained that logistics is crucial in dealing with
economic development in the country for the well-being of the
masses.