Why Nigerian Senate is probing Rotimi Amaechi

The Nigerian Senate has resolved to probe the country’s Ministry of Transport headed by Rotimi Amaechi over the procedure leading to the concession of Port Harcourt-Maiduguri and Lagos-Kano rail lines to General Electric, GE, a U.S. conglomerate.

In a motion at the Senate on Tuesday, Akpan Bassey (PDP-Cross River) said Mr. Amaechi violated the Public Enterprises (Privatization and Commercialization) Act, 1999 by “unilaterally engaging General Electric for the concessioning of the Western and Eastern Rail Lines.”

Senator Bassey, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Gas, said upon approval of the of the project by the National Privatization Council in April 2015, twilight of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s tenure, the Bureau of Public Enterprises and the Nigeria Infrastructure Advisory Facility had developed a roadmap.