₦airaland Forum

Konskott:
When will they announce China funding for railroad development in the south south? Every international funding is for the north. But why?

nwirinedu:
Testimonies from people? Is it a church?

SonofGod231:
Both of who?!
Atiku don leave PDP before?

2027 Poll: ‘Join SDP’, El-Rufai Urges Atiku, Obi, Aregbesola

Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has dismissed the idea of a possible future merger, and has urged former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, ex-Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi, and others to join the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

This was following his resignation from the All Progressives Congress (APC) on March 10, citing a misalignment of values with the ruling party.

In a recent interview with BBC Hausa, El-Rufai pleaded with the politicians to join SDP to defeat President Bola Tinubu in 2027.

The Presidency on Friday, had said that the 2027 general election was not Tinubu’s current focus, but how to improve the economic conditions of every Nigerian.

Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Media and Public Communications, Sunday in a statement on X on Friday, said “President Tinubu is not worried about the next election. He’s worried about the shared prosperity that he can bring to Nigerians.

“He’s worried about how the reforms he has put in place will yield necessary impact. He is concerned about what happens to the economy of this country eventually. That’s the focus. “We’ve seen our foreign reserves go up. We’ve seen inflation come down. We’ve seen our trade surplus go up.

“We’ve seen exports go up and imports drop.

“We’ve seen the investments that have been attracted -over 50 billion. We are seeing prices dropping.

“We have clear data and you have a President that is clearly in the driver’s seat, and he has stayed the course of the decisions he has taken.

“And I think that the next election is not really in his view right now.

“It’s how to make sure that at the end of his first term, he can sit back and say, look, “I have impacted the lives of Nigerians. I have turned this economy around”.

However, El-Rufai during the interview with the BBC, called on the trio of Obi, Abubakar and Aregbesola to form a political alliance with him towards the 2027 elections.

“My wishes and prayers are Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Rotimi Amaechi, Rauf, all opposition leaders to come and join SDP, not to do a merger or to register a new political party,” he said.

“What pains me is that the government we supported and had confidence in would do well because we saw what Tinubu did in Lagos despite his challenges,” he said.

“We all know about his issues in Chicago, but we thought if he could replicate his work in Lagos for Nigeria, let’s support him. However, he failed.”

El-Rufai clarified that his presidential political ambition in 2027, would depend on the party and the will of the people.

“It is not for me to decide; it is the party and the people that will decide. Even when I was contesting for governor, it was people that met and convinced (Muhammadu) Buhari, and he called me and asked me to contest,” he said.

El-Rufai asks Atiku, Obi, Aregbesola to join SDP

by Ajibade Oluwaseyi

El-Rufai downplayed the idea of merging political parties or forming a new one.

Nasir El-Rufai, the immediate past governor of Kaduna State, has asked Atiku Abubakar, a former Vice President of Nigeria, and Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general election, to join the Social Democratic Party (SDP) to unseat the ruling party in 2027.

El-Rufai, who was speaking during a recent interview with BBC Hausa, also said there was no intention of merging political parties.

The former Kaduna State governor underscored the need for Peter Obi, Atiku Abubakar, and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola to ally with him toward the 2027 elections.

He said he was not interested in forming a new political party or a merger but a united force ahead of the 2027 elections.

El-Rufai claimed he had worked hard for the emergence of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2023 due to his antecedents as governor of Lagos State, hoping the president would replicate his achievements in Lagos for Nigeria, and argued that the present administration has failed.

El-Rufai, in a statement released on Monday via his Facebook account, had expressed disappointment at what he described as the APC’s departure from its core values, stating that recent developments within the party have shown an unwillingness to address internal challenges.

He confirmed that he had formally submitted his resignation letter to his ward in Kaduna, effective immediately, following consultations with political allies across the country.

After he resigned from the APC, the Kaduna chapter of the party said it was not bothered about the defection of Nasir El-Rufai to the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

“We are unperturbed by former governor Nasir El-Rufai’s defection to another party. Our focus in Kaduna is on how to deliver the state to both President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Uba Sani come 2027,” the APC Kaduna chapter said.

In a swift response, the presidency said President Bola Tinubu was placing priority on urgently improving the lives of Nigerians and not the 2027 general election.

The Presidency explained that President Tinubu was focused on what comes out of the reforms he instituted and how beneficial they have been to the growth of the nation’s economy.

It maintained that the reforms have started yielding results, as seen in the country’s growing foreign reserves, the dwindling inflation rate, and the growing trade surplus.

The presidency argued that the country’s exports have gone up and importations have dropped significantly, with investments attracting over $50 billion.

Writing by Oluwaseyi Ajibade; Editing by Tony Okerafor

nwirinedu:
Not functional.

nwirinedu:
Everything up north, what are our south south governors doing? Absolutely nothing.

OALandAgents:
Title should be that: FG announces ... after Senate approval

OALandAgents:
Ok. Then the subject title is misleading.

Tunaji:
What about Akure to Lagos rail too,
don't we deserve something like this as well?

Well, we are anxiously awaiting the South West Regional Development Agency to act in this regard. They should just not associate with Odu'a Investment cos I heard they were planning to share the same building. They should set out on their own.

OALandAgents:
Why does it seem that I am the only person finding it odd that it is the senate and not the Ministry of transort or the presidency making this anouncment?
Naija has been destroyed!

naptu2:
I'll explain this again.

1) Western Line: The Western Line was the first line that was built by the Colonial Government. The primary reason for building it was to transport raw materials and agricultural goods like Al-Hassan Dantata's groundnuts from Kano to the port in Lagos.

The line begins at the Lagos Terminus in Iddo (there's also a branch line to the Apapa Port) and goes through Abeokuta, Ibadan, Ilorin, Kaduna and terminates in Kano. It is a narrow gauge line.

The Western line began with the Lagos-Ibadan line which was built between 1891 and 1896, it reached Kano in 1912 and it was later extended to Nguru in 1930.


2) Eastern Line: The Eastern Line was primarily built to move coal from Enugu to the port at Port Harcourt. Port Harcourt was also built for the same reason (to serve as a port for the shipment of coal). Coal was shipped to Great Britain and to the power plant at Ijora in Lagos.

The Eastern Line was extended to Jos, to move tin from the tin mines there and it was also connected to the Western Line in Kaduna. The Government of Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa extended the Eastern Line to Maiduguri. It is a narrow gauge line.

The Eastern Line began with the Port-Harcourt to Enugu Line that was built between 1913 and 1916. It was extended to Kaduna in 1927 and it was later extended to Maiduguri between 1958 and 1964.

3) Central Line: The Central Line was constructed by the government of General Ibrahim Babangida (construction began in 1987). It was built to convey iron from the iron mines at Itakpe to the steel mill at Ajaokuta and to convey the steel from Ajaokuta to Warri Port. It is a standard gauge line. The line was not completed.


There have been plans to build new standard gauge lines on the western and eastern axis, along the same corridor as the old narrow gauge lines.

The government of President Goodluck Jonathan began the Kaduna-Abuja rail line on the Western Axis. The government of President Muhammadu Buhari completed it and also built the Lagos-Ibadan line on the Western axis. The Government is currently building the Kano-Kaduna leg of the Western Line. When that is completed, all that will be left is the Ibadan-Ilorin and Ilorin-Abuja segments of the line.


The Government of Muhammadu Buhari also completed the Warri-Itakpe Line (the Central Line). There are plans to extend it to Abuja.

The Muhammadu Buhari Administration had declared that it would focus on completing existing projects, rather than starting new ones and so it focused on completing the Western and Central Lines. There is also a plan to build a standard gauge Eastern Line (Port-Harcourt to Maiduguri) but that has not commenced yet (which has caused annoyance among people of the North-East and South-East).


There is a proposal to build a coastal line, from Lagos to Calabar, but it hasn't been built yet. Critics complain that the colonialists were only interested in exploiting resources from Nigeria, rather than giving Nigerians good infrastructure and that's why they built rail lines from the hinterland in the north, to the ports in the south. For example, the critics point out that if you want to go from Lagos to Enugu by rail, you'd first have to go all the way up to Kaduna, before you can get to Enugu.

When I heard this criticism back in the 1980s, I often asked, "So why haven't we built it? The colonialists have been gone since 1960, so why haven't we built a rail line from east to west? We can't keep blaming them".

naptu2:
The Buhari Administration began the Kaduna - Kano leg of the Western Line and the Tinubu Administration will finish it.

President Tinubu has gone to China to finalise the deal for the construction of the Ibadan - Ilorin and Ilorin - Abuja legs of the line.

The idea to build the Eastern and Western standard gauge lines was conceived during the administration of President Obasanjo. Yar'Adua did not follow through, but Goodluck Jonathan continued it.

The Central Line was conceived during the administration of President Shehu Shagari. It was started by the Babangida Administration and finished by the Buhari Administration. However, the Buhari Administration proposed that it should be extended to Abuja.

I'll tell you about Lord Harcourt later.

naptu2:
The Eastern Line goes through places like Port Harcourt, Aba, Umuahia, Enugu, Makurdi, Jos, Bauchi and Maiduguri.

The Western Line goes through places like Lagos, Abeokuta, Ibadan, Ilorin, Jebba, Minna, Kaduna and Kano.

The Central Line goes through Warri, Abraka, Agbor, Igbanke, Agenebode, Uromi, Ajaokuta and Itakpe.

On the Kaduna-Kano rail modernization

The senate, yesterday, has announced the China Development Bank as the new financier for the project paving way for its completion over the coming months.

The former financier, the China Exim Bank, had earlier backed off the project in 2020 citing Covid-19 pandemic among other issues as reasons bringing about delays in its completion.

The railway, a standard-gauge line stretching 203 kilometres, will link Kano to the nation’s capital, Abuja.

Reminder that President Bola Tinubu had earlier assured that the Ibadan-Abuja-Kaduna-Kano railway project would be completed to satisfaction as he continues to build on the success of his immediate past predecessor @MBuhari in railway revolution.

#BelieveInPBAT