The Senate on Thursday launched a comprehensive investigation into operational inefficiencies, insecurity, and alleged financial improprieties in Nigeria’s railway system, amid growing concerns over declining service delivery across key rail corridors.
The decision followed a motion raised during plenary by Senator Abdul Ningi and a point of order by Senator Adamu Aliero, both of whom drew the attention of the Senate to the worsening state of rail operations, particularly on the Abuja–Kaduna–Kano corridor.
Consequently, the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, inaugurated an ad hoc committee chaired by Senator Adams Oshiomhole to carry out a holistic probe of the Nigerian railway system.
Other members of the committee include Senators Enyinnaya Abaribe and Abdul Ningi, among others.
The committee has been mandated to examine the execution of railway contracts, funding patterns, operational efficiency, service delivery, and the utilisation of loans obtained for rail projects.
It is expected to submit its report within six weeks.
The probe is expected to focus significantly on the billions of dollars in foreign loans deployed for railway construction, as well as the quality of infrastructure delivered.
The ad hoc committee was initially constituted in November 2025 but has now been formally activated to carry out a more detailed investigation.
Raising a point of order, Aliero lamented the sharp decline in train services, noting that routes which previously recorded up to 10 trips daily have been reduced to just one.
He said, “I call the minister almost on a weekly basis and put the pressure on him. I said, Look, this rail line is the pride of the nation. We cannot afford to allow it go down.
“All efforts must be made to ensure we restore the service of the railway from Abuja to Kaduna”
Commenting on the matter, Akpabio expressed deep concern over the state of Nigeria’s rail services, particularly the Abuja–Kaduna route, lamenting the drastic increase in travel time and the overall decline in efficiency.
He explained that the contract was awarded under former President Umaru Yar’adua, transmitted under Goodluck Jonathan and commissioned under the immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari.
“In fact, it was finished under Buhari with a loan from China. The one (train) in Lagos, if you are walking, you will go faster than it. Even the one in Ibadan, if you take quick steps, you will go faster than the train, and wait for the people inside the train. In fact, if you use a bicycle, you will get to Ibadan before the train gets halfway.
“So, it’s a peculiar problem in Nigeria. When you see someone who can do a great job, people will talk, about how he’s getting money. Yet he offers services that work. We must change our attitudes to work,” he said.
Akpabio questioned the quality of execution of the rail projects, arguing that a properly delivered railway system should not require major repairs within its early years of operation.
“If the rail system was well executed, you would not need any repair, at least in the next five to seven years, or even 10 years. And then, for most of the coaches, I understand, the tracks are too small for them.
“When they take a bend, the whole coaches will fall, because chances are the old tracks of the locomotives were used in the 1960s and 1970s. And so, the modern rail system is very sleek,” he stated.
