The Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has expressed readiness to revive the non-functional $824m Abuja metro rail and also improve the transportation system in the FCT.
Wike who expressed his disappointment over the failure of the Abuja Rail Mass Transit project during his official visit to the metro project on Wednesday, questioned why the $824m metro rail is not functioning, barely 5 years after the project was commissioned, and expressed readiness to fix it.
The immediate former President Muhammadu Buhari commissioned the project on July 12, 2018, and it was opened for passengers the following week.
However, the $824m rail project, meant to solve problems of transportation within the Abuja metropolis and the environs, has since been abandoned, paving the way for vandals to feast on the tracks.
The project to be funded 60 per cent, with loans from Exim Bank of China, was proposed to cover 290km, to be developed in six phases or lots.
When the facility was opened for business in 2018, only the section from the Abuja Metro Station in the Central Business District to the airport was put to use, with an intermediate station at Idu.
Meanwhile, the train service soon folded up, without adding value to the citizens, who were in serious need of an efficient transportation system.
However, Wike in his bid to find an immediate solution to transportation problems in Abuja, told journalists during his visit to the Metro Station, that the measure was part of his resolve to address challenges affecting public transportation in the FCT.
He revealed that transportation is one of the sectors he intends to transform in a short time, to improve public transportation in the capital city.
“I know that we have a metro station in Abuja, and it is not working. Why is it not working? Can we fix it within a short time? ,” Wike said.
