N567m Needed To Hire 1000 Efficient Workers For Lagos-Ibadan Operations – NRC Boss

The Lagos-Ibadan rail line intends to employ 1,000 efficient workers which would cost N567.45m per annum.

The Managing Director, Nigerian Railway Corporation, Mr Fidet Okhiria, said this in Lagos during a visit by the members of the National Assembly Joint Committee on Transportation to the Ebute Meta headquarters of the NRC.

According to him, the present personnel ability of the corporation was 10,672 with current personnel cost of N9.14bn for 2021.

He further said that a total of 1,000 additional workers would be needed for the operation of the new Lagos-Ibadan rail line, with an extra wage cost of N567, 451, 300 per annum.

Okhiria said, “On corporation’s revenue generation since 2020, NRC has remitted N1.13bn to the Federal Government approved dedication TSA Account domiciled with the CBN.”

During the visit, it was discovered that the signal and communication system of the rail was not functional. The Project Liaison Officer of China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, Mr Yakubu Adogie, stated that the company was currently working to overcome this issue before the first quarter of 2022.

In a statement issued by the NRC, the CCECC liaison officer mentioned that the company was already working on some certain aspects of the station such as the plumbing, power supply, and telecommunications within the new Lagos-Ibadan railway corridor.

According to Adogie, irrespective of the intervention of the Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, in July and payment of compensation, the Nigeria Customs Service log room building had not been demolished to pave way for the construction of the other two lines which would link Apapa port.

The Project Manager of TEAM Construction Company Nig. Ltd, Leonardo Portanova, also talked on the overhead bridges and crossings in the Lagos end of the rail line.

According to him, “You are all aware that the joint committee is carrying out its statutory constitutional responsibilities to ascertain the level of work done.

“We are here to oversee how funds appropriated in the past fiscal years were expended and how much is needed for the smooth running of the corporation against the next budgetary allocation.”