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From Adesuwa Tsan, Abuja
The Senate on Thursday constituted an ad-hoc committee to probe the award, funding and execution of railway projects across the country amid growing concerns over the declining state of rail services on key corridors.
The committee is to be chaired by Senator Adams Oshiomhole.
The resolution followed a point of order raised by Abdul Ningi under Order 42, in which he drew the attention of the chamber to what he described as the “tragic situation” of rail operations, particularly on the Kano–Kaduna–Abuja route.
Raising the issue, Ningi recalled that the rail line was first commissioned in 2015 under former President Goodluck Jonathan and later recommissioned during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
“Mr President, I came before you this morning and alerted you on the tragic history of Nigerian railway security,” he said.
Ningi noted that in its early years, the rail line operated about 10 daily trips—five from Abuja to Kaduna and five from Kaduna to Abuja—conveying an estimated 10,000 passengers daily with between eight and 10 coaches, alongside significant cargo movement.
He said the situation had since deteriorated sharply.
“Last two weeks, Mr President, I visited Kaduna with the railway, and what I found and discovered was simply a tragic Nigerian story,” he said.
According to him, daily passenger traffic had dropped from about 10,000 to between 800 and 900, while the number of trips had reduced from 10 to just two. He added that cargo operations had nearly collapsed.
“As I speak to you now, there is no live cargo except one that goes to Kaduna, sleeps and comes back in the morning to Abuja,” Ningi said, noting that the rail line previously generated close to ₦1.8 billion monthly when operating at full capacity.
He further alleged that many of the coaches and cargo wagons deployed on the route were second-hand, despite the billions of naira invested in the project.
“What is amazing, and Nigerians are unaware of, is that everything that came in terms of the cargo and coaching were second-handed,” he said.
On travel time, the senator said journeys that initially took about one hour and 30 minutes now lasted over three hours.
“When the railways started, we were spending about one and a half hours to Kaduna. Today, last week when I went, we spent three and a half hours,” he said.
Ningi also lamented the limited travel options available to commuters, explaining that passengers now have to arrive at stations very early to secure seats.
“If you want to go to Kaduna and you are running away from the road, you need to wake up by 7 a.m. and take the railway to Kaduna, otherwise you forget it,” he said.
“This is very disturbing. It will not only disturb me, it must disturb this Senate, and disturb Nigerians, that as it looks, nobody is ready to do anything about it,” he added.
Contributing, Senator Adamu Aliero attributed the reduction in train trips partly to infrastructure damage caused by bandit attacks and the financial challenges facing the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC).
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“The contract was awarded during the regime of late Umar Musa Yar’Adua, President Jonathan completed it, and President Buhari commissioned it, and it was financed through the China Exim Bank,” Aliero said.
He disclosed that a derailment about two months ago damaged three coaches, forcing the NRC to seek emergency repairs.
“The ministry had to look for funds and they couldn’t get the money. They had to plead with the contractor to come and do emergency repairs,” he said.
Aliero added that only one coach could be operated after the repairs, accounting for the single daily trip in each direction.
“It is true that the number of trips has dropped drastically from five to only one, and this is simply because the bandits have vandalised the tracks, and it takes a lot of time and resources, and these resources are not available,” he said.
He, however, assured the Senate that efforts were ongoing to revive the line.
“The Federal Government is going to provide enough money to ensure that we revive the rail line between Abuja and Kaduna,” Aliero said.
In his remarks, Senate President Godswill Akpabio dismissed claims that funding was the primary issue, insisting that poor execution of contracts lay at the heart of the crisis.
“Senator Aliero, it’s not money that is the problem. It’s the execution of the job,” Akpabio said.
He argued that a properly executed rail project should not require major repairs within five to 10 years, adding that mismatched and outdated infrastructure had contributed to frequent failures.
“The tracks are too small for the coaches. When they take a bend, the whole railway will come down,” he said.
Akpabio also questioned why second-hand coaches and tracks were supplied for a multi-million-dollar project.
“There is no country that would just go and contract with another country to buy a second-hand railway system. Whatever happened here must have been man-made,” he said.
He said the Senate had a constitutional responsibility to investigate the matter.
“We have a responsibility as a Senate to ask questions, to look into these things, and to correct them,” Akpabio said, describing the National Assembly as a “corrective parliament.”
The Senate President explained that the ad-hoc committee would conduct a holistic investigation into railway contracts, funding, execution standards, revenues and maintenance structures.
“That’s why we want a holistic look into this,” he said.
Akpabio directed the committee to report back to the Senate within six weeks, urging members to engage all relevant stakeholders and submit actionable recommendations.
