The Minister of Transportation, Mu’azu Jaji Sambo has presented a budget of N92.6bn to the joint committee of the Senate and the House of Representatives on Land and Marine Transport for the Ministry and its agencies for 2023 fiscal year.
The Minister, who made this known at the budget presentation on Thursday at the National Assembly in Abuja, also presented the 2022 Budget Performance, of the Ministry which was N147,549,080,677 out of which N52,134,727,253.22 representing 35.33% has been released and N38,904,208,345 has been utilised as at October 25, 2022.
Sambo said the ministry, through the support of the joint committee, was implementing the Nigeria railway modernisation project and progressively expanding the railway network through yearly budgetary appropriations, following the challenges being faced in securing counterpart funding through loans, according to a statement from the Minister’s media team.
Furthermore, he disclosed that the implementation of the Kaduna – Kano, Port Harcourt- Maiduguri and Kano-Maradi segments of the railway modernisation is ongoing with the Federal Government counterpart funding in the 2022 appropriation, while expecting the Federal Ministry of Finance to conclude negotiations of the loans with the Infrastructure Development Finance Institutions of the Chinese, Portuguese and Turkish origin to implement the projects.
“Permit me to also report that the Lagos – Ibadan segment of the Lagos – Kano and Itakpe to Warri railway project are fully operational and receiving patronage from the general public. To reach practical completion on these projects, some aspects of works, including construction of Overpass Bridges, connection to the National Grid and other ancillary provisions have to be completed. Therefore, adequate funds need to be provided in the 2023 budget to facilitate the practical completion of the projects,” he said.
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