Minister: I didn’t divert $3bn railway project to my state

The Minister of Transportation, Said Alkali, has described as false a report claiming that he diverted $3 billion railway project from the South-East to his home state, Gombe State, for political gain.

The minister urged Nigerians to disregard the publication, describing it as false and malicious.

This is contained in a statement issued by the Director of Information and Public Relations in the Federal Ministry of Transportation, Janet McDickson, on Tuesday, March 11, 2025.

McDickson noted that the Port Harcourt-Maiduguri narrow gauge railway rehabilitation project was awarded to Messrs China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation in November 2020.

She said the rehabilitation works had been completed from Port Harcourt to Aba, adding that train services along the corridor were currently running.

The ministry spokesperson stated: “Rehabilitation works from Aba to Enugu is ongoing with works on substructure completed while works on superstructures are ongoing.

“It is pertinent to note that the slow pace of work on the project is due to paucity of funds and the Federal Ministry of Transportation is working assiduously with the Contractor to ensure that funds are drawn down to complete the project.

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“It is worthy to note that the main line for the project is in sections, Port Harcourt–Aba, Aba-Kafanchan, Kafanchan to Kuru in Jos, and Kuru to Maiduguri.

“As part of preliminary works on the remaining section of the project, which includes Gombe State, a recognizance survey was carried out in 2024.”

McDickson added that the survey was carried out along the entire rail line by the four stakeholders – the Federal Ministry of Transportation, Nigerian Railway Corporation, the contractor, and the consultant.

She stated that there was no work going on in Gombe, as falsely reported.

McDickson said: “The management of the ministry requests that Sahara Reporters withdraw this fake report and apologise to the Minister, Sen. Said Alkali, for dragging his name and the ministry in a bad light.

“The minister is working assiduously to bring out the dividends of democracy to the entire nation to achieve the mandate of the Ministry and does not deserve to be attached with this fake news.

“The Sahara Reporters is, therefore, warned to desist from carrying out fake news but is advised to work professionally by officially verifying its information before publications.”

The Star