A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Garus Gololo, on Sunday, in a media briefing in Abuja, accused the Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi, of lying to Nigerians that the coaches bought for the Abuja-Kaduna train service were bullet-proof.
This was as he urged President Muhammadu Buhari to use the remaining days of his tenure, in the nation’s highest political office, and right all the wrongs committed under his administration.
On the issue of bullet-proof train coaches, Gololo argued: “The bullet holes on the train, coupled with the number of casualties from the incident, showed that the claim of a bullet-proof train by the minister was bogus, irresponsible and an outright lie.”
He also condemned the minister’s request for N3 billion to deploy digital security equipment to monitor activities along rail tracks in the country to tackle security breaches by criminals.
Gololo wondered why a “civilian Minister of Transport will arrogate to himself security expertise, instead of enlisting the help of the National Security Adviser (NSA), the Chief of Army Staff or Inspector-General of Police, to execute such a sensitive function as installing sensors on rail corridors.”
The politician, who appeared to be antagonistic of Amaechi’s handling of rail projects across the country, also asked the minister to make public reasons for the delay in the construction of the Kano-Maradi (Niger Republic) rail line.
Moreover, the APC stalwart urged Amaechi to be transparent in executing the rail transportation agenda of the Muhammadu Buhari-led government, saying: “Amaechi has not been forthcoming in making public the cost of the trains from foreign partners.
“We don’t know how much he purchased the trains and the actual loan implication for the project, in terms of sources of funds and percentage interest at repayment. These are things every Nigerian should know about these rail projects, because it’s our money that has been frittered.
“Moreover, he didn’t build new rail lines. He’s only consolidating on earlier works done by the former PDP government,” Gololo argued.
He called on President Buhari to use the opportunity of the remaining days of his administration to right the wrongs in his government. (New Telegraph)
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