The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Federal Executive Council (FEC)

  • Aishat Buhari greets Osinbajo’s at 60th

    Aishat Buhari greets Osinbajo’s at 60th

    Members of cabinet on Wednesday wished Acting President Yemi Osinbajo happy 60th birthday anniversary.

    They sang a birthday song for him after the rendition of the National anthem and opening prayers by the Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, and Head of Service, Mrs. Ekanem Oyo-Ita.

    As the Acting President was about to take his seat for the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting to begin, the cabinet members remained standing and sang the birthday song.

    After the songs and good wishes, Osinbajo replied with a prayer for the cabinet members.

    He said: “For the young men and women who are below 60, I pray that you will soon be 60. For those who are 60, I pray that you be 120 and above in Jesus name, Amen.”

    Wife of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari, in her Twitter handle, also wished Osinbajo happy Birthday.

    She said: “On the occasion of the birthday of Your Excellency, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo SAN, Ag. President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I wish to extend my congratulations to you and to state that the years you have spent building your reputation in multiple capacities have today resulted in your ability to carry out your duties in line with the manifesto of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to ensure that a better Nigeria is realized. Congratulations and Happy Birthday”

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  • ‎FG okays N701b power purchase guarantee for GenCos

    ‎FG okays N701b power purchase guarantee for GenCos

    …Power generation hits 4,000 megawatts

    The Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday approved N701 billion as Power Assurance Guarantee for the Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET). 

    The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola briefed State House correspondents at the end of FEC meeting chaired by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo.

    He was accompanied by the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed and Minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh.

    Fashola said that the facility, which will be made available by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), is to guarantee the payment for the evacuation of power produced by Generating Companies (GenCos) for the national grid. 

    The amount, he said, will be drawn on monthly basis to tackle liquidity challenges faced by GenCos.

    NBET will pay GenCos in arrears of electricity generated as a deliberate step to boost their confidence and that of intending investors to the sector. 

    Part of the liquidity problem being faced by GenCos is the inability to pay their gas suppliers.

    Fashola said: “You will recall that a few weeks back we announced the approval of council for early works for the second Niger Bridge. That bridge at some time was part of a PPP initiative. You will also recall that at some time some private agreements have been signed to build the Lagos-Ibadan express way. 

    “The first memo is to brief council on the PPP status of those infrastructure projects and present options to government which was essentially that government where those PPPs are having problems, government must lead and finance the infrastructure while continuing to engage the private sector. Government remains committed to ‎having private participation in infrastructure renewal.

    “But government as a matter of strategy thinks that it can continue until financial closures, agreements and all of that are put in place when PPPs become ready and viable to help deliver. So, it was a strategy memorandum, the conclusion essentially which is that government is committed to doing short financing as much as possible and encouraging PPP as much as possible. 

    “The second memorandum is in another area of critical importance which is power‎. Part of the challenges there was addressed in the memo that was presented to council to solve some of the liquidity problems, especially as it relates to NBET. 

    “NBET as you know is the government’s own company, which is the Bulk ‎Trader Electricity who buys power from the GENCOS. The liquidity problems that have characterized the market have affected NBET’s ability to deliver on its PPP obligations through the GenCos.

    “So, going forward in order to strengthen NBET, CBN is proving a payment assurance guarantee for any energy produced by any GenCos, so that the GenCos can pay their gas suppliers when they get paid. So that the hydros can continue to operate.  

    “What we seek to achieve here is to bring some stability to the production side of the power value chain and also give confidence to investors who want to come in, who are concerned about how to recover their money….. payment assurance and also people who are planning to invest in the gas sector which is being championed by the ministry of petroleum also are saying the same thing in terms of payment for gas produced.

    “So, the approval of council was to provide this guarantee for NBET, which is a 100 percent government owned company to pay on a monthly basis it’s obligations for energy actually produced on to the grid to the GenCos that are its customers,” he said.

    He said that the government is expanding transmission capacity regularly because it wants to generate more power.

    He said “I have been here to announce to you transmission projects that have been approved by council and over the last one year plus the transmission capacity has grown to almost seven thousand from five thousand and is continuing to grow with every project.

    “So, it is not the problem of taking power, ‎it is actually a problem of getting power from generation. If you recall just about a few weeks ago you were reporting that power supply had dropped to a little over 2000. It’s back now at over 4000. Because what we were seeing on the eastern side of the Delta was that there power. We have solved the transmission problem in Ikot Ekpene largely to evacuate over a thousand. But the gas suppliers were being owed so they were not supplying gas for the power producers. 

    “As to the quantum of the guarantee, it is for two years from January this year right through to December 2018. It is capped at a maximum of N‎701 billion but it is to be drawn monthly. It is possible it may not reach that. But we are projected on the total cost that NBET will likely to pay. And that is why it is for power generated onto the grid only.

    “So, if the power generated does not meet that cost we don’t pay for it. It is paid in arrears at the end of the month not in advance. So, it is for actually what gets unto the grid. And this is part of the reforms that we have briefed you about that we were planning to undertake,” he said.

    He also said that he briefed the cabinet on the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) status of the Second Niger Bridge and Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

    Minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh, said the FEC approved the sum of N263 million for three research institutions to produce gum Arabic seedlings for Nigerian farmers and for export.

    He said Nigeria earned as much as $43 million from export of gum Arabic last year, and that more will be earned with increased production, especially the commodity is in high demand in 17 other countries.

    Ogbeh disclosed that similar efforts are on to boost Cassava research, noting recent discovery of well-packaged ‘garri’ imported from India.

  • FEC approves N4.6bn for federal fire service

    FEC approves N4.6bn for federal fire service

    The Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday approved N4.6 billion for the purchase of new fire-fighting equipment to contain fire incidents in the country.

    The Minister of Interior retired Lt.-Gen. Abdulrahman Danbazau gave the indication at a joint State House Media briefing with the Aviation Minister, Alhaji Hadi Sirika.

    Danbazau said there was an appropriation of about N5.2 billion for the purchase in the 2016 budget but the figure dropped after a no objection approval by the Bureau of Public Enterprises.

    “Today’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved the procurement of some fire-fighting equipment.

    “The last time equipment were procured was sometime in 1996.

    “The equipment in the inventory today were those procured between 1985 and 1996, and since then there was no procurement.

    “On the assumption of duty I went round their stations and I discovered surprisingly the dearth of fire-fighting equipment.

    “And with the experiences in fire incidences all over the country, we discovered that such a situation should no longer hold and therefore we reflected that in the 2016 budget with the aim of equipping the fire service and also improve its capacity.

    “So (it is for) both equipment and training and of course the welfare of the personnel.

    “This approved procurement is going to go a long way to providing the service with the necessary equipment even though this is just a start.

    “We also, hoping that the 2017 budget will avail us with the opportunity to procure more equipment for the Federal Fire Service.’’

    Danbazau also said that the ministry was making some effort to improve the existing facilities at the Fire Training School.

    He said that the ministry intended to partner an entity involved in the training of fire fighters, particularly in the oil and gas sector, to train the nation’s fire fighters and improve their capacity to carry out their services.

    The minister said that since the various states possessed their separate fire services and had suffered fire incidents, the federal government would partner them on fire fighting.

    Danbazau mentioned Kano, Lagos and Kebbi as states that suffered recent fire incidents, adding that the national council on fire service in Kano last month agreed to standardise fire service delivery all over the country.

    He said that the meeting criticised the operation of several standards operated by each state and accepted to change the trend.

    “We are moving ahead towards that and also be able to ensure that the necessary fire codes are observed by everybody,’’ he said.

    The minister also hinted that NEC discussed the need to have an inter-ministerial meeting to consult with various ministries and states in order to ensure that prevention measures were carried out.

    He said it was important that every building observed the building codes by having fire equipment, such as fire hydrants, for preventive measures.

    “These are some of the very measures that we intent to take in the very near future to ensure that we reduce the losses and also prevent fires from happening,’’ he added.

    He said that stakeholders meeting would be held with experts to enforce building codes in the country to secure the buildings and ensure that they generate their revenues for the government.

    On the strengthening of the country’s fire-fighting workforce with young professionals, the minister said that all agencies under the ministry had been directed to prepare for recruitment in 2017.

    “It is not just the fire service, but all the services under the ministry of interior have been directed to prepare for recruitment into the services this 2017 budget.

    “This directive has been given to them a couple of months back because of the realisation that they need the manpower and particularly fire service which needs a lot of energy to be able to tackle some of its challenges.

    “So there is no doubt that we are going to carry out some recruitment exercises.

    “But that is not to say that even the older ones who have not reached retirement age are not of any use.

    “They are very useful; we need them to share their experiences with the younger ones.

    “I think in terms of capacity building certainly we cannot do away with them.

    “So there is absolutely no doubt that we are going to carry out some recruitment exercises for all the services and we want to make the fire service attractive,’’ said the minister.

  • FEC wades into Falcon’s allowances’ palaver

    FEC wades into Falcon’s allowances’ palaver

    …Mohammed: Default in payment caused by recession

    The Federal Executive Council (FEC) chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari, on Wednesday started deliberation on the crisis surrounding the payment of outstanding allowances and bonuses to the victorious Super Falcons.

    The team, which won the African Women’s Cup of Nations (AWCON) trophy last Saturday, seized the trophy until the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) settles all their outstanding bonuses and allowances in tune of $25,000 for each player.

    They also vowed to remain at their Agora hotel in Abuja until their money is paid.

    Speaking with State House correspondents at the end of FEC meeting, the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed said that FEC is looking into the matter.

    “The Minister of Youth and Sports raised the issue today at the council and it is being looked into,” he said.

    According to him, the economic recession in the country is partly responsible for inability to meet up with the outstanding payments.

    “Over time, it has become tradition to reward victorious athletes of sports persons but I think this is caused by the biting economic situation.

    “The Minister of Youths and Sports is handling the matter. It was reported under other matters today at the council,” he stated.

  • FEC okays transaction parties for $1 billion Eurobond

    FEC okays transaction parties for $1 billion Eurobond

    The Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday approved the appointment of transaction parties for one billion dollars Eurobond issue.

    The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun briefed State House correspondents at the end of the FEC meeting chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    She was in the company of Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed and Minister of Environment, Amina Mohammed.

    The transaction parties, she said, included Citigroup, Standard Charted bank, Standbic IBTC, Whiten case, Banwo and Igodalo and Africa Practices communications advisers.

    She said: “The one billion Eurobond program is part of the funding for 2016 budget and we hope to be able to commence the process in January. We obtained certificate of no objection from Bpp for the appointment of those parties having undertaken fully competitive open tender process.

    “We are confident that we will be able to complete the transaction expediently with significant interest. The oil price stability obviously is helping us, currently there is quite a bit of demand for emerging markets papers,” She said.

    According to her, Nigeria’s paper is currently trading around 7 to 8 percent mark.

    The minister added: “Angola came out in November with bench UAD I.56 and Gabon in June  did 8.25 plus Ghana in September did 9.25. We are expecting to get quite a competitive pricing on the issuance program which I said is to be used for the purpose of funding capital projects in the 2016 budget within the month of January.

    “The other thing to note is that these parties that have been appointed would run any Eurobond issuance program that we do for the next three years so that we don’t have to keep on re tendering unless there is a major problem with any of them they will be our parties for the next three years,” She stated.

    The Minister of Environment said that the Council considered finalizing the amendment of the gazette for the establishment of the hydrocarbon pollution restoration process/purchase.

    The gazette, she said, is the vehicle that is supposed to have all the government structures to will allow clean up in the Niger Delta starting with Ogoni land and the implementation  of the UNEP report.

    “Why is this so important, well what we have said in the past the past gazette did not put in place some of the government structures we need such as the government board, like the board of trustees or a structure that would be held accountable for the enormous amount of money that is already available to be spend and additional monies that we can leverage from the money that we have that is being offered by different partners.

    “This now will enable us to put more structure to the board of trustees who require a legal entity to put the resources in and then we hope that in the new year we will begin to roll out, to begin with the building of the centre of excellence, the integrated soil treatment centre will also go up and then we begin training, but in this case we start training many of the women on the livelihood side in the many of the contaminated areas.

    “Of recent, you would have heard that in Ogoni land itself we have pipelines …. I’ve visited there…those that are most affected there are the women farmers. So we have to find better ways of speaking with communities but also ensuring that livelihoods of women are not affected.

    “We are also speaking to many of the young people there, we have a good feedback from those who are interested in being a part of the rollout of the clean-up Ogoni land in the new year,” She said.

  • FEC approves 2017 Budget proposal

    FEC approves 2017 Budget proposal

    Approval of the 2017 budget proposal and its onward submission to the National Assembly was given by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday

    The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Mr Udoma Udo Udoma, made this known when he briefed State House correspondents on the outcome of the FEC meeting.

    The meeting was presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    He stated that the approved document would soon be presented to the National Assembly by President Buhari after consultations with the leadership of the Assembly.

    “The budget has been approved by the Federal Executive Council, the details off course, will be revealed when the President presents the budget to the National Assembly.

    “With regard to the date, the President will be communicating with the National Assembly and off course, it will be at the National Assembly’s discretion ultimately.

    “So, the president will write to them and it is after they confirm, then the president can come to address them,’’ he said.

    On the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), the minister stated that the document was prepared after extensive consultation with stakeholders.

    He stated that his ministry would continue to ensure regular briefing on the state of the 2016 budget implementation, saying that 80 per cent of the capital allocation of the budget had been released.

    The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, who also addressed correspondents, disclosed that the council had approved the construction of Federal Secretariat Complex in Ekiti State.

    According to him, the council has also approved the furnishing of the Federal Secretariat in Gombe State.

    He said the Council also approved the Business case for the concession of some Small Hydro dams to achieve Incremental Power supply across the country, adding that the small hydro dams would be adequately utilized.

    “The other matter we considered, off course, was in furtherance of our Incremental Power Initiative and our Rural Electrification Initiative and this was in respect to small hydro dams.

    “This can help us get more energy, especially to rural areas to support farming; to support irrigation; to support water supply and off course rural electrification.

    “So, Council approved the Business Case for concessioning and development of Ikere Goji dam (Oyo) for 6 megawatts of electricity, Bakolori dam (Zamfara) for 3.2megawatts of electricity; and Jibiya dam (Katsina State) for 4megawatt.

    “Zobe dam 0.2 megawatts and Kpape Omi in Kogi dam for 2 megawatts of electricity and Doma dam (Nasarawa) for 1 megawatt of hydroelectricity,’’ he said.

    Fashole said that the small hydro dams would be utilised to further the nation’s quest for incremental energy in the area of renewable energy as “hydroelectricity is also clean energy’’.

  • FG to realize $15 billion investments from JV cash calls’ elimination

    FG to realize $15 billion investments from JV cash calls’ elimination

    The Federal Government on Thursday disclosed that it plans to end the era of joint cash calls with oil companies by next year.
    ‎
    The move, the Government said would result in investments in excess of $15 billion by oil companies.

    ‎The Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu briefed State House correspondents after making presentation to the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting.

    The Minister sought NEC’s endorsement for the proposal already approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC), towards changing the funding configuration of Joint Venture (JV) for upstream companies.

    According to him, the current cash call arrears in the oil sector over the last five years up until December 2015 was about $6.8 billion unpaid.

    He said that the government had accumulated unpaid cash call arrears of over $2.5 billion as at 2016.

    The debt, he said, became accumulated due to failure to pay the joint cash calls when oil was selling for $110 -$120 per barrel.

    He said: “There really wasn’t any justification why these monies shouldn’t had been paid in terms of the five years arrears.”

    He said that it had become difficulty to pay the debts as a result of militancy and the drop in oil prices from $110 to $40.

    The implication of this, he said, was government’s inability to meet its cash call obligations.

    “When that happens, you find that your reserve begins to deplete, your ability to maintain production at current level will begin to dissipate and cost of per barrel of production at joint ventures continues to rise because of the very little volumes chasing the cost and at the end of the day the investors’ confidence begins to wane. So a lot of the projects that ought to have happened in this country basically abandoned.”

    He said that ‎sometimes this year, government took on an initiative working with NNPC and the Ministry of Petroleum to try and find a sustainable solution for funding JV cash call.

    He said: “We have been able to find that solution. What we have been able to put together has enabled us to shave over $1.7 billion savings for the government on the $6.8 billion that was previously owed. So we are going to be owing only $5.1 billion as oppose to $6.8 billion dollars.”

    According to him, the $5.1 billion will be paid within five years interest free and the barrels to pay will come from incremental barrels generated by the oil companies not on the current 2.2 million barrels.
    He explained that if for any reason government did not meet those thresholds, it would not be able to pay the $5.1 and the $2.6billion outstanding for this year.

    He added: “We are trying to cover that through three thresholds: one is to continue to do an accelerated cash call payments between October and December hopefully that will bring the figure down to about $1.5 billion and that $1.5 billion was sinking resources from FG either through some of our reserve or Nigeria LNG or a combination of that and alternative funding to try and train staff that should be completed hopefully by December.

    “Beginning next year, if this goes into place the issue of cash call era would have had disappeared. The effect of what this is that investments in excess close to $15 billion are likely to be announced by the oil companies bringing back most of the projects within couple of weeks once this is signed.

    “For the first time the oil industry will take responsibility for arranging their own funding and being able to produce oil and save the fg the whole nightmare of cash calls every year.

    “So this is a very dramatic move in the oil industry we are still going to make presentation to the National Assembly for them to understand this.” He said.

    The new financing regime, he said, would help to save at least $1billion from 2017.

    According to him, government would be looking at reducing the cost of barrel per production from the current 27 dollars per barrel which he said was one of the highest in the world to figure within the threshold of 18 dollars per barrel over the next two years ultimately to about 15 over the next four years.

    He expected the barrel reserve production to increase to about 2.5million by 2019 and potentially to about 3 million barrels by 2021.

  • Osinbajo presides over scanty FEC meeting

    Osinbajo presides over scanty FEC meeting

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Wednesday presided over the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting.

    President Muhammadu Buhari is in Marrakech, Morocco attending the 22nd Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), also known as COP-22.

    The FEC meeting was scantily attended by cabinet members.

    About ten ministers were in attendance when the meeting started on Wednesday.

    The meeting was still in progress at the time of filing this report.

  • FG approves eight new private universities

    FG approves eight new private universities

    Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday in Abuja approved eight new private Universities in the country.

    Addressing State House correspondents on the outcome of the FEC meeting, the Minister of State for Education, Prof. Anthony Anwuka, said the approval followed a memo submitted by the Federal Ministry of Education.

    He gave the names of the new universities as Anchor University, Ayobo, Lagos, (owned by Deeper Life Christian Ministry); Arthur Jarvis University, Akpabuyo, Cross River (owned by Clitter House Nigeria Limited) and Clifford University, Owerrinta, Abia, (owned by Seventh Day Adventist Church).

    Others are Coal City University, Enugu, (African Thinkers Community of Inquiry College of Education, Enugu); Crown-Hill University, Eiyenkorin, Kwara (owned by Modern Morgy and Sons Limited) and the Dominican University, Ibadan, (owned by Order of Preachers, Nigerian Dominican Community).

    He said the council also approved Kola Daisi University, Ibadan, (owned by Kola Daisi Foundation) and Legacy University, Okija in Anambra, (owned by Good Idea Education Foundation).

    He disclosed that the new universities were being licensed for a three years provisional approval and would be mentored by some existing universities across the country.

    Anwuka stated that the University of Lagos would serve as mentor to Anchor University, Ayobo; Arthur Jarvis, Clifford and Coal City Universities would be mentored by University of Calabar, University of Agriculture, Umudike, Umuahia and University of Nigeria, Nsukka, respectively.

    The Minister revealed that the University of Ilorin would also serve as mentor to Crown-Hill University in Kwara while Dominican and Kola Daisi Universities in Ibadan would be mentored by the University of Ibadan.

    Similarly, the Minister of State for Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, said that the council also ratified the Climate Change Paris Agreement and Agreement against Double Taxation between Nigeria and Kenya.

    He said the council also approved the revised estimate cost for the completion of the local and International wing of the Port Harcourt International Airport.

  • FEC approves N30 billion for mining

    FEC approves N30 billion for mining

    The Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday approved N30 billion intervention fund for mining exploration in the country.

    The Minister of Mining and Steel Development, Kayode Fayemi disclosed this to State House correspondents at the end of FEC meeting presided by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    He was accompanied by the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed and Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi.

    Fayemi said that the fund that will come from 1.68% of the Federation Account will mainly focus on mining exploration.

    He said: “FEC rectified the president’s anticipatory approval for Ministry of Mines and Steel Development to qualify to access the national resources fund.

    “You will recall that in August FEC approved the road map for the growth and development of the mining sector.

    “In recognition of Mr. President’s campaigns promises to Nigerians‎ and in particular his consistent statement to diversification particularly in agriculture and mining sector, Council ratified the approval of N30 billion intervention fund for the mining sector. It will be highly focused on exploration. Exploration is the heart of mining, if you don’t search you won’t find.

    “You have heard all sorts of talks about how rich Nigeria is in mineral resources but the quantity, quality, the geological prospectively has been a challenge because we have neglected  the sector for such a long time.” He said

    He also said that there is need for investment grade geological data if Nigeria must attract mining investment into the country.

    According to him, smaller countries like Burkina Faso spend averagely $300 million a year on exploration.

    He added: “This is why Council approved this for mining and this is significant because this is the accessing of natural source development fund which has been made 1.68 per cent of the federation account. It is an equivalent of the ecological fund and the Education Trust Fund.

    “It is meant primarily for agriculture sector, mining sector and the water resources sector. And this will cover exploration primarily but also research and development in partnership with our universities, it will also cover security and mining in partnership with the ministries of Interior and Defence and the DSS just to tackle the menace of illegal mining across the country. It will also support small scale miners with grants,” he stated

    The Council, he said, also stressed the importance of inter-ministerial coordination and for the Ministry to work with the ministries of transportation, power, works and housing, environment on safer mining practices and ministry of health ‎to help build a multi-sectoral focus on mining and also encourage private sector investment in the sector.

    He said that the government is already in negotiation with sovereign investment on mining in order ‎to access private capital to mining and the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

    The guidelines, he said, will be ready in a month’s time.

    Amaechi disclosed that the Council approved advisers that would sit to negotiate with General Electric (GE) towards concessioning the railway.

    ‎He said: “For the Transport sector I’m sure you are aware of an attempt to concessioned the Railway to General Electric (GE), Council approved the advisers that would sit with GE as our own experts to negotiate.

    “The narrow Gauge railway will to a great extent assist the agriculture, mines and steel development ministries in the transportation of the extracted minerals. We are rehabilitating at no cost to government the Port Harcourt-Maiduguri, which include Port Harcourt, Aba, Umuahia, Enugu, Makurdi, Jos, Gombe, Bauchi to Borno.

    “Then Lagos to Kano will include Lagos, Abeokuta, Ibadan, ‎Ilorin, Kano, Funtua, Zaria and to Kaura Namoda, we are rehabilitating all of them.

    “It is essentially ‎to encourage freight movement, we have over 30 million worth of freight on the Lagos Kano route for which presently we are moving slightly above 100 tones. While the Port Harcourt to Maiduguri is currently moving nothing but we are anticipating 11 million tones that can be moved from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri.” He said

    According to him, the rehabilitation will encourage movement of cargos and passengers‎.

    He said that GE will do everything required to rehabilitate and invest on other railway infrastructure.

    “GE is proposing to manage for 25 years‎ to recover their investments. Nigerian government has not agreed and that is what our advisers will sit with GE to agree,” he added.

    The advisers, he said, included African finance corporations.