Members of the Federal Executive Council on Wednesday approved the total sum of $187.7 million as contract cost for consultancy services and supervision of the Port Harcourt-Maiduguri, Kano-Maradi, Abuja- Warri rail lines, among others.

According to the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi gave the information at the end of the Council meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The cost is also meant to cover the supervision of the Kano-Katsina-Dibia-Maradi rail lines.

According to Amaechi; “The ministry of transport presented two memos and the first one has to do with a contract for consultancy services for supervision of the various railway projects.

“You know that we have three or four railway projects that are yet to start or commence construction on and they include the Port Harcourt-Maiduguri, Kano-Maradi and then Abuja to Warri. Now, for the consultancy services, the following contractors were approved with a total cost of $187.7 million.

“The contractors are GE Engineers Infrastructure Excellence/Yaro son and partnership limited, Core Consulting Engineering Plc, that is for Abuja-Warri. And then for the consultants’ services for supervision of Port Harcourt-Maiduguri with batch lines to Bonny Deepsea Port and Port Harcourt industrial park, and then to Owerri, we have Gary consults SDBHD/Jabu Global Services Limited at $97.5 million.

“The first one is $38.4 million. Then the last one is consultancy services for the supervision of the Kano-Katsina-Dibia-Maradi rail line, to Techniques Engineering, Architecture Marketing Nigeria Limited and that is for $47,670 million, all of them for a period of 36 months.

“The second one, the cabinet approved a concession agreement for Onitsha River Port to a company called Universal Eligion consortium that will manage the River Port for 30 years”