Damilola Oyedele in Abuja
The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, has disclosed that the ministry recorded 17 per cent implementation of its capital component in the 2017 budget.
Speaking when be appeared before the Senate Committee on Land Transport yesterday to defend his ministry’s 2018 budget proposal, Amaechi said 10.8 per cent of the N192 billion appropriated for the ministry in 2017, has been expended.
“The total capital appropriation for the ministry for 2017 is N192,895,507,321 out of which N31,932,659,318.65 (16.55 per cent) was released to the ministry. The sum of N20,826,771,137.45 has so far been expended as at November, this year,†he said.
Amaechi further explained that the sum of N528.8 million was appropriated for overhead expenditure, out of which N230.5 million (43.6 percent) was released while N180,514,659.21 (34.1 per cent) has so far been expended as at November, 2017.
The minister said the 32-year-old Itakpe-Ajaokuta-Warri-Aladja railway project, is being proposed for completion in the 2018 budget.
This, he said, was in addition to the inclusion of the Nigerian coastal rail line Lagos-Calabar project.
He told the committee that counterpart funding would be required for the Ibadan-Kano railway project.
“We sought and got the president’s approval to source for financiers for various rail projects for development. Negotiations are ongoing and we may need some contribution depending on the discussions,â€Â he said.
Amaechi said the Nigerian Institute of Transport Technology (NITT), Zaria, is determined to increase its research base and infrastructure, to improve on capacity building.
“To this end, the institute is planning to acquire state-of-the-art equipment and establish outreach learning centres in four geopolitical zones of the country. It is expected that the institute will eventually be upgraded to Transport Technology University that will serve not only Nigeria, but the rest of West Africa,†the minister said.
