The Federal Government, De-Sadal Nigeria Limited, and China Liancai Petroleum Investment Holdings Limited are set to commence the construction of a $60 bn gas and 4,000-kilometre high-speed rail project in Nigeria.
This was disclosed when the consortium presented proof of funds to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, alongside the Ministers of Transportation, Sa’idu Alkali and State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, among others, in Abuja on Tuesday.
Chief Executive Officer of De-Sadal Nigeria Limited, Samuel Uko, who spoke on behalf of the consortium, said the first phase of the project would cover four major cities in Nigeria, which are Lagos, Abuja, Kano, and Port Harcourt.
“Today, with our partners, I have just presented the official approval form for the project. The fund is coming from the Asian Development Investment Bank. And it is to cover the first phase of the project that cuts across four major cities in Nigeria.
“The rail line is from Lagos to Abuja, to Kano, and from Abuja to Port Harcourt. So this is a very great work that the government have done. The federal government of Nigeria, through the ICRC, approved the outline business case. And the next step now was for us to submit the approval form to the government, which we have just done. So I believe in the shortest possible time, Nigeria will start enjoying a high-speed rail in Nigeria.”
While speaking on the amount involved, he said a total of $60bn had been approved for the project.
“Today, $60 billion approval fund has just been submitted to the government through our financial and technical partners. The first phase of the project is $55 billion. So the fund is ready, and the country is ready to move forward with this project, ” he added.
On the timeline for the completion of the project when started, Uko said, “Well, the 1,600 kilometres that covers the four major cities of the country will take us 36 months to build. But we won’t wait until the 36th month. For instance, from Lagos to Lokoja, we will cut across about six states. But when we get to the second, third state, the people from the first two states will start enjoying the speed train.
He explained that the project would also involve gas development to meet the power needs of the rail network. “The raw material for power is gas. So we have to develop the gas aspect to be able to access more gas to power the high-speed rail project,” he said.
Speaking, the SGF said the submitted proof of funds would undergo scrutiny.
“We want to establish the real amount of money that is available. We don’t doubt them, but that is the normal procedure that the government takes when huge sums of money are involved in such transactions.
“This is a country that is business friendly especially under the administration of President Bola Tinubu,” he stated.
Minister of Transportation, Sa’idu Alkali, said the project aligns with the ministry’s mandate to provide safe, secure, and affordable transportation.
He said, “We have submitted the outline business case to ICRC. They have approved it. This is a step towards preparing the full business case to be submitted to ICRC before we take it to the Federal Executive Council,” he said.
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, assured investors of adequate gas supply.
“It has been proven that we have 210 trillion cubic feet of gas that need to be tapped. In the deep sea, we have over 600 trillion cubic feet. So I can assure the investors they will not be lacking in terms of gas,” he said.