South South Rail Projects Tied to 500 billion Dollars Chinese Loans to Nigeria _ Ameachi

The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Ameachi made this revelation while appearing before the House of Representatives Committee on Loans, Treaties and Protocols chaired by Ossai Nicholas.

 The probe which started with the interrogation of the Director-General, Debt Management Office, Patience Oniha was meant to give insight into the detail of the loans.

 The Minister of Finance, Zaniab Ahmed was among the high profile government officials invited but was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Special Duties, Aliyu Ahmed.

Ameachi while responding to questions fielded by the Chairman of the committee, Ossai Nicholas on the local content components of the loan agreements, gave one word answers without the necessary details saying that the activities of the Lawmakers will hinder the acquisition of the loans to finance the South South rail projects.

He disclosed as well that the only loan secured so far by the present administration was the NI.6 billion for the Lagos -Ibadan rail line.

The probe generated heated arguments prompting tone of the conversation prompted a member of the Committee, Wole Oke to call the attention of the Chairman for what he calls “guidance”, but the call was not heeded.

The meeting generated heated arguments prompting the Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila to interrupt the hearing and demanding for a twenty minutes break.ostensibly to douse the tention. And with the Speaker’s intervention, the Chairman of the Committee formerly announced a minute break before adjourning for a later date.