The Presidency on Thursday said the country is not building a rail line into the Niger Republic, but only to the designated Border point.
This is as criticism trailed the approval of $1.9 billion by the federal government for the construction of a rail line from Kano to Maradi in Niger Republic.
A statement by Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity said 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 and Investment, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Water Resources as well as those of Kano and Katsina states.
“The objective of the rail is the harnessing of raw materials, mineral resources and agricultural produce. When completed, it will serve domestic industries and play the role of a viable transportation backbone to the West African subregion, starting with the neighbouring Niger Republic for their export and import logistic chain”.
