Date: 2021-11-17

House of Representatives yesterday urged the Federal Ministry of Transportation to commence construction of the Ibadan-Osogbo-Ilorin

segment of the Lagos-Kano Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) without further delay.

The resolution came on the heels of a motion by Hon. Abdulganiyu S. Cook Olododo.

Olododo noted that the Lagos-Kano Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) which was about 2,700km was conceived by the Federal Government in 2006 to offer transport connections from Lagos to Kano, near the border with Niger.

"The Lagos-Kano Standard Gauge Railway project was awarded to China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC) and segmented into Lagos-Ibadan, Ibadan-Osogbo-Ilorin, Osogbo-Ado Ekiti, Ilorin-Minna, Minna-Abuja, Abuja-Kaduna and Kaduna-Kano segments for ease execution;

"The Abuja-Kaduna and Lagos-Ibadan segments of the project have since been completed and commissioned by the Federal Government leaving the Ibadan-Osogbo-Ilorin, Osogbo-Ado Ekiti, Ilorin-Minna, Minna-Abuja and Kaduna-Kano segments of the project uncompleted.

"In July 2021, the Kano-Kaduna angle of the Lagos-Kano Standard Gauge Railway project kicked off while works on the Ibadan-Osogbo- Ilorin segment of the project have been put on hold by the Federal Government, thus denying the people of Ilorin and other surrounding towns the benefits associated with construction of the rail line from Ibadan to Ilorin.

"If construction of the Osogbo- Ilorin segment of Lagos-Kano Standard Gauge Rail project is achieved, the purpose for which the project was conceived would be greatly beneficial to the people as it would foster commercial activities within the surrounding areas, thus improving their economy and the economy of the country at large". Adopting the motion, the House mandated its Committee on Land Transport to ensure compliance of the resolution.