By Prevail Inegbenose
The Federal Ministry of Transportation has denied any involvement in the approval and award of the approximately US$3 billion railway modernisation contracts for the Kano, Kaduna and Lagos rail corridors, saying the projects did not originate from the Ministry.
The Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Transportation, Engr. Funsho Adebiyi, disclosed this while appearing before a joint session of the National Assembly, where lawmakers are investigating the award and implementation of the rail projects.
Adebiyi said he first became aware of the projects through media reports after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved them and announced that the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) would execute the projects.
“I heard on the network news that FEC had approved the railway projects and that MOFI would execute them. I found it strange because there is a ministry established specifically for railway development in Nigeria,” he said.
According to the Permanent Secretary, he immediately convened a meeting on May 12, 2026, with officials of MOFI and representatives of the contractors to understand how the projects were initiated without the knowledge of the supervising ministry.
“I called a stakeholders’ coordination meeting with MOFI and the contractors to ask how this came about and what role the Ministry of Transportation was expected to play,” he stated.
Adebiyi explained that, as the accounting officer of the Ministry, it was his responsibility to ensure the implementation of Federal Executive Council approvals. However, he stressed that the memorandum seeking approval for the projects did not originate from the Ministry of Transportation.
He noted that the then Minister of Transportation had resigned to contest governorship election before the FEC meeting where the projects were approved and therefore did not present the memorandum.
“The memorandum did not emanate from the Minister of Transportation. I was not informed that such a memo was going to FEC,” he said.
Asked whether the Minister of Finance presented the memorandum, Adebiyi declined to speculate, explaining that deliberations at FEC are confidential and Ministers do not disclose who sponsors individual memoranda during council meetings.
He, however, said it was the Minister of Finance who announced the approvals during the post-FEC briefing, which informed the ministry that MOFI had been designated to implement the projects.
During the meeting with MOFI and the contractors, Adebiyi said he made a presentation outlining the statutory responsibilities of the Federal Ministry of Transportation, stressing that the ministry was established to oversee the development, operation, maintenance and design of all federally sponsored railway projects, regardless of their source of funding.
He also highlighted the Ministry’s track record in delivering major rail infrastructure across the country and noted that it was implementing the Federal Government’s Railway Master Plan.
The disclosure comes amid an ongoing investigation by the National Assembly into the award of the rail contracts, with lawmakers questioning the exclusion of the Federal Ministry of Transportation from projects falling within its constitutional and statutory mandate.