- My govt will construct ‘world’s largest railway’ if I’m elected
From the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, came a very dark prediction on Nigeria’s march towards railway infrastructure development, which has gained unusual momentum under the Muhammadu Buhari administration.
He said the most ambitious Lagos-Warri-Calabar rail, popularly called the coastal railway may never be started if he lost the All Progressives Congress (APC) primaries and eventually his shot at the presidency.
He described the project, with about $11.1 billion budget as the world’s biggest in terms of budget size, adding that it would be his desire to not only to build, but to complete the world’s largest rail in the Niger-Delta region if he is elected president come 2023.
Amaechi, a presidential aspirant of the All Progressives Congress, APC made the promise while addressing delegates at the party’s secretariat in Asaba, Delta State.
He said; “If I don’t become the president of Nigeria, forget that project (Lagos-Warri-Calabar railway project). Nobody will do that project. You know why they won’t do it? It’s $11.1 billion.
“That is for now the biggest project in the world. If l do not win the primary and the general election, nobody else can do it because it is capital intensive. The moment we complete the Lagos-Calabar-Warri, things will be okay.
“What should bother us is how do we move forward? It takes courage and that was why we came up with that theme ‘Forward with courage’. It requires courage to confront the challenges ahead”.
The minister also reeled out his achievements as Rivers state governor with a promise to replicate the same success as president.
“Don’t listen to those who say l will do. Ask them what they have done. I fought insecurity in Rivers, l generated power which l cannot distribute because it is only the federal government that can distribute.
“If l’m elected president, l will make sure power is removed from the exclusive list,” he said.
