Federal Government Denies Building Rail Line Into Niger Republic

The Federal Government has debunked report that the Nigeria government will construct a rail line to Niger Republic.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, gave the clarification stated that the Federal Government will not build a rail line into Niger but to the border.

Naija news recalls  that  President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration agreed to build a $1.96bn rail line that will connect Nigeria to Niger Republic. This decision was met by criticism.

But in a tweet on his personal handle, @GarShehu, on Thursday, the Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media & Publicity), Garba Shehu, said the agreement was reached between Nigeria and Niger in 2015 for the Kano-Katsina-Maradi Corridor Master Plan (K2M).

He said both nations agreed to build a rail line to the “border town of Maradi.”

Maradi is the second-largest city in the Niger Republic and the administrative centre of Maradi Region and also the seat of the Maradi Department.

The presidential spokesman said in the series of tweets: “Nigeria isn’t building rail line into Niger but, only to the designated Border point.

“An agreement between Nigeria and Niger in 2015, coordinated by the Nigeria-Niger Joint Commission for Cooperation has a plan for “Kano-Katsina-Maradi Corridor Master Plan, (K2M)” as it is called.

“Going by this, the two nations would each build a rail track to meet at the border town of Maradi.

“Nigerian delegates to that meeting comprised officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Boundaries Commission, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade & Investment, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Water Resources as well as those of Kano & Katsina states.

“The objective of the rail is the harnessing of raw materials, mineral resources and agricultural produce.