The Senate has called on the federal government to upgrade the Eastern Rail Line from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri from narrow to standard gauge, saying it would boost the economy and reduce road traffic.
The Senate made the call on Wednesday after adopting a motion by Sen. Victor Umeh (APGA-Anambra) and co-sponsored by 31 other senators at plenary.
According to the motion, the Eastern Rail Line passes through four zones of South-South, South-East, North-Central and North-East of the country, covering Port Harcourt, Enugu, Markurdi, Jos, Bauchi and Maiduguri.
The motion noted that a functional railway system in the country would help to reduce vehicular traffic on the roads and save them from constant dilapidation.
The motion also lamented that the rehabilitation and reconstruction of a narrow gauge rail line from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri, which was awarded in 2011, had been vandalised, abandoned and overgrown with weeds and trees.
The motion further stated that the Chinese contractors partnering with the Federal Government on the project, who were expected to provide 85 per cent of the funding, had abandoned the project without injecting any funds.
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The Senate, therefore, urged the federal government to take immediate steps to build a standard gauge rail line from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri, as part of the railway modernisation programme.
The Senate also mandated its Committee on Land Transport to liaise with the Ministry of Transportation and the Nigerian Railway Corporation to ensure the implementation of the resolution.
Contributing to the debate, Sen. Eyinnaya Abaribe (APGA-Abia) said that the issue was not new, as it had been raised in the 8th Senate.
He said that no transport minister had been able to give a reason why the Eastern Rail Line had been ignored in the modernisation of rail lines built by the colonial masters in Nigeria.
He expressed optimism that with the coming of this present administration, the Eastern Rail Line would be upgraded.
In his remarks, President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio commended the motion as a patriotic one that the federal government should take seriously.
He said that the Eastern Rail Line would serve the interest of millions of Nigerians and enhance the economic development of the country.