Railway-Related Debt Servicing Gulps $548.67m

The Federal Government spent $548.67m (N246.11bn using the official exchange rate of N448.55 to a dollar, to service railway-related debts between 2016 and 2022, the Debt Management Office has said.

The Nigeria external debt service payments reports by the Debt Management Office indicates that, betweenJanuary and December 2016, railway debt servicing gulped $19.99m.

A breakdown shows that the Nigeria Railway Modernisation Project gulped $11.37m and the Nigeria Abuja Light Rail Project gulped $8.26m.

By 2017, railway debt servicing gulped $21.53m, with the Nigeria Railway Modernisation Project taking $12.14m and the Nigeria Abuja Light Rail Project incurring $9.39m.

The total spent on servicing railway debt kept rising in 2018, taking a total of $63.92m between January and December that year.

The Nigeria Railway Modernisation Project (Idu-Kaduna Section) took $50.81m, the Nigeria Railway Modernisation Project (Lagos-Ibadan Section) gulped $2.82m and the Nigeria Abuja Light Rail Project gulped $10.92m.

The Federal Government spent $74.25m to service railway-related debts in 2019.

The Nigeria Railway Modernisation Project (Idu-Kaduna Section) gulped $49.91m, the Nigeria Railway Modernisation Project (Lagos-Ibadan Section) gulped $12.68m and the Nigeria Abuja Light Rail Project gulped $11.66m.

In addition, the amount spent on serving railway debts still rose the following year, costing Nigeria $121m in 2020.

The Nigeria Railway Modernisation Project (Idu-Kaduna Section) gulped $48.97m, the Nigeria Railway Modernisation Project (Lagos-Ibadan Section) took $21.28m while the Nigeria Abuja Light Rail Project gulped $50.75m.

By 2021, the total amount spent on servicing railway debts had risen to $122.92m.

The Nigeria Railway Modernisation Project (Idu-Kaduna Section) gulped $47.96m, the Nigeria Railway Modernisation Project (Lagos-Ibadan Section) took $24.08m and the Nigeria Abuja Light Rail Project gulped $50.88m.

Meanwhile, in the first quarter of 2022, a total of $61.73m was spent on servicing railway debts, which included $23.58m on the Nigeria Railway Modernisation Project (Idu-Kaduna Section), $13.60m on the Nigeria Railway Modernisation Project (Lagos-Ibadan Section), and $24.55m on the Nigeria Abuja Light Rail Project.

DMO/Punch/Hauwa Abu