By Adedapo Adesanya
Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, has disclosed that the Lagos-Ibadan rail project may not meet up to the set date of completion, April 2020.
This was disclosed by the Minister, who said looking at the work, it was not feasible that the project will be completed soon. He said this when he visited site of the project alongside the Oyo State Governor, Mr Seyi Makinde, on Monday, as they inspected the Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge rail line.
Writing via his Twitter handle, @ChibuikeAmaechi, the Minister said, “Looking at the state of work in Apapa, completing the project in April doesn’t seem feasible, especially the extension of the rail line to the seaport.”
“We’ll however, continue to work and redouble our efforts to complete the project and meet set targets,” he said.
The assessment which is part of his monthly visit started from Ebute Metta to Apapa where the Federal Government hopes to decongest the traffic at the Lagos Port by extending the rail project to that axis.
The team also proceeds to Iju station to kickstart the inspection of the 157 kilometres project – which spans from Fagba area in Lagos State to Ibadan, Oyo State which will have the highest chunk of the rail line.
The Minister had said last week that the inauguration of the project, however, might not hold till May 2020 as that is President Buhari’s preferred date
“We have put the President on notice that we are ready to commission the Lagos-Ibadan railway by April. Probably, since we have Democracy Day in May, he may wish to commission it in May,” Mr Amaechi had said.
However, the new development may see a huge change to this plan.
Aduragbemi Omiyale 
Modupe Gbadeyanka