Senate probes ailing railway system, controversial contracts

The Senate on Thursday launched a comprehensive investigation into operational inefficiencies, insecurity, and alleged financial improprieties in Nigeria’s railway system, amid growing concerns over declining service delivery across key rail corridors.

The decision followed a motion raised during plenary by Senator Abdul Ningi and a point of order by Senator Adamu Aliero, both of whom drew the attention of the Senate to the worsening state of rail operations, particularly on the Abuja–Kaduna–Kano corridor.

Consequently, the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, inaugurated an ad hoc committee chaired by Senator Adams Oshiomhole to carry out a holistic probe of the Nigerian railway system.

Other members of the committee include Senators Enyinnaya Abaribe and Abdul Ningi, among others.

The committee has been mandated to examine the execution of railway contracts, funding patterns, operational efficiency, service delivery, and the utilisation of loans obtained for rail projects.

It is expected to submit its report within six weeks.

The probe is expected to focus significantly on the billions of dollars in foreign loans deployed for railway construction, as well as the quality of infrastructure delivered.

The ad hoc committee was initially constituted in November 2025 but has now been formally activated to carry out a more detailed investigation.

Raising a point of order, Aliero lamented the sharp decline in train services, noting that routes which previously recorded up to 10 trips daily have been reduced to just one.

He said, “I call the minister almost on a weekly basis and put the pressure on him. I said, Look, this rail line is the pride of the nation. We cannot afford to allow it go down.

“All efforts must be made to ensure we restore the service of the railway from Abuja to Kaduna”

Commenting on the matter, Akpabio expressed deep concern over the state of Nigeria’s rail services, particularly the Abuja–Kaduna route, lamenting the drastic increase in travel time and the overall decline in efficiency.

He explained that the contract was awarded under former President Umaru Yar’adua, transmitted under Goodluck Jonathan and commissioned under the immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari.

“In fact, it was finished under Buhari with a loan from China. The one (train) in Lagos, if you are walking, you will go faster than it. Even the one in Ibadan, if you take quick steps, you will go faster than the train, and wait for the people inside the train. In fact, if you use a bicycle, you will get to Ibadan before the train gets halfway.

So, it’s a peculiar problem in Nigeria. When you see someone who can do a great job, people will talk, about how he’s getting money. Yet he offers services that work. We must change our attitudes to work,” he said.

Akpabio questioned the quality of execution of the rail projects, arguing that a properly delivered railway system should not require major repairs within its early years of operation.

“If the rail system was well executed, you would not need any repair, at least in the next five to seven years, or even 10 years. And then, for most of the coaches, I understand, the tracks are too small for them.

“When they take a bend, the whole coaches will fall, because chances are the old tracks of the locomotives were used in the 1960s and 1970s. And so, the modern rail system is very sleek,” he stated.

The former Akwa Ibom State governor further faulted the procurement process and questioned whether warranty provisions were breached.

“So, I agree that the entirety of the contract, vis-a-vis the funding as well as the execution was a problem. Even if you get money from somewhere and say you want to repair, what are you repairing? Has the period of warranty gone? The people who supplied those things ought to give us a specific period within which those things will not spoil.

“Even if things spoil, they will repair it with their own money and not with Nigerian money. We are not taking steps to recover the losses, nor are we making an effort to know why they were second-hand

There is no country that will just go and contract to start buying second-hand. I don’t think this is such a truth. So, whatever happened here must have been man-made. And that’s why we have the ad hoc committee,” he argued.

In his motion, Ningi alleged that the Abuja–Kaduna–Kano rail project was poorly executed, despite substantial revenue generation.

He claimed that although the rail line has generated over ₦1.8bn in revenue, there has been no commensurate improvement in service delivery.

Ningi further noted that while the Abuja–Kaduna journey initially took about one and a half hours, it now takes approximately three and a half hours.

He also disclosed that daily train operations have been reduced to a single trip, with a 7:00 a.m. departure from Abuja and a return trip from Kaduna, compared to multiple trips previously available.

Ningi said, “I don’t want anybody to misconstrue this matter. First of all, I asked if those cargoes were new they were purchased. The answer is no. They are second-hand.

“What about the revenues they make – at least N1.70bn? That was the intention of my motion. Where is the money? It’s not just about the servicing; people paid.”

Responding, Akpabio reaffirmed the Senate’s constitutional oversight responsibility, insisting that the probe was aimed at accountability and corrective action.

He said, “We have a duty as founded in the Nigerian constitution, to ask questions and look into these things to correct them. We have always said that we are a corrective parliament. So, we must look into these things and let Nigeria know where it went wrong.

“I think there are people who kept and saved the money for us to buy the second-hand coaches. Then we should get them to bring back the money.

“From that effort alone, we can recover enough money to repair the coaches we are talking about or ask for a total refurbishment.”

Addressing the chairman of the committee directly, Akpabio charged Oshiomhole to conduct a thorough investigation.

“So, Distinguished Senator Adams Oshiomhole is here. We have set up a committee under you to look into this railway issue. Look at the rail tracks, coaches and everything. Why should it take like three and a half hours for a journey that shouldn’t take 25 minutes to get done?

“By the modern railway standard, this shouldn’t take that long. Which means that if you are using a bicycle, you will get to Kaduna before them. Even a Keke Napep can go faster. It will get to Kaduna and even return to Abuja before the train gets there. So you must do your work,” he charged

Culled from punch