The Minister’s appearance was at the promptings of the Senate’s adopted motion which was moved by the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu at last Wednesday’s plenary.
Ekweremadu had told the Senate that the railway development plan of the Federal government from Maiduguri to Port-Harcourt which was awarded to the General Electric, a Chinese subsidiary firm has collapsed.
Speaking, the Chairman of the Committee, Senator Gbenga Ashafa clarified that, it’s not an investigative hearing, but an interactive one to enable the committee unravel the collapse of arrangements.
Ashafa said, the contractual arrangements of the Federal Ministry of Transportation with General Electric costing $2.7 billion was huge and the nation could not afford to lose sleep.
Senator Shehu Sani, a joint Chairman of the Committee reminded the Minister of the commitment he made when his Ministry applied for the loans that were approved for Lagos – Ibadan railway construction.
