The Senate has established an ad hoc committee to investigate thoroughly all railway projects carried out under the government of President Muhammadu Buhari. The committee will look at the funding, standards for implementation, and maintenance procedures of these projects.
According to the Daily Independent, the project’s engineering, supervision, and maintenance quality will all be examined.
This follows senators’ worries about the Itakpe-Warri rail corridor’s history of derailments, vandalism, and mechanical breakdowns.
The “disturbing and persistent technical breakdowns” on the Warri-Itakpe standard gauge line were voiced by Senator Ede Dafinone in a motion presented yesterday in plenary.
Between 2023 and 2025, the train line that was finished under the Buhari government suffered multiple service delays and at least ten derailments, according to Dafinone.
He stated that the rapid succession of mishaps has become a national problem since it has put passengers at risk, damaged public trust in rail transportation, and cast doubt on the project’s engineering, supervision, and maintenance quality.
In order to ascertain the reasons behind the failures and to execute remedial actions promptly, Dafinone demanded that the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) and the Federal Ministry of Transportation conduct an impartial technical evaluation of the Itakpe-Warri corridor.
In addition, he demanded that the Senate Committee on Land Transport provide a comprehensive technical and safety report and conduct an on-the-spot inspection of the impacted parts, focusing on the Agbor axis in Delta State.
In addition, the congressman suggested that a National train Safety and Standards Unit be set up to ensure that train operations across the country are transparent, that safety audits are conducted on a regular basis, and that compliance with international best practices is enforced.
If we want to reduce passenger congestion and increase reliability, he said, speed up the Itakpe line extension to Abuja.
By describing the failures as “a national embarrassment that speaks volumes about the inefficiency of those managing the rail sector,” Abdul Ningi, who supported the motion, expressed his strong concern.
“Politics has no place here. These lines, which the government financed with borrowed billions of dollars, are already failing less than two years after they were finished. We must not let carelessness and poor management put lives at jeopardy while we squander public monies. He emphasized that those accountable should be brought to justice.
In agreement with him, Patrick Ndubueze urged a complete overhaul of the NRC, which he said had deteriorated to unacceptable levels of operation, and he endorsed the resolution.
“The NRC needs a total reorganization,” Ndubueze stated.
The agency is acting in an improper manner. When goods that ought to travel by rail are instead transported by road, the condition of our roadways worsens. The highways will be less congested, accidents will be reduced, and lives will be saved if the rail infrastructure is repaired.
Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, on the other hand, demanded honesty and responsibility in his piece.
His point was that the federal government ran up a lot of debt funding the railway project. He asked the Senate to look into the matter and find out who was responsible for handling the contracts, how much was borrowed and spent, and whether proper procedures were followed.
He claims that “substandard work or poor supervision during construction” is to blame for the mechanical and technical issues that keep cropping up.
Other senators who agreed with him also demanded that the probe cover all railway projects carried out by the Buhari government. That the Itakpe-Warri line’s history of derailments and failures might be indicative of a systemic issue plaguing the rail industry as a whole was their main point.
Godswill Akpabio, president of the senate, praised his colleagues for their testimony and characterized the motion as “timely and necessary to protect lives, restore service reliability, and safeguard national investments” after rigorous discussion.
“There is no political affiliation here. The derailments started long before this government came into power. Everything that went wrong, from getting the funding to actually completing and maintaining the projects, needs to be investigated. “The people of Nigeria deserve answers,” he declared.
Subsequently, the Senate ordered the NRC and the Federal Ministry of Transportation to fix the Itakpe-Warri line, send extra coaches, and increase safety standards without delay.
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