Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi disappointed a bleeding north and the entire federation by positioning himself for the 2023 presidential elections and audaciously distancing himself from the Abuja-Kaduna train tragedy that happened under his watch, the Kaduna Communities for Social Justice (KCSJ) has said.
Addressing reporters in Kaduna on Wednesday, members of KCSJ led by its President, Muhammadu Adamu and Secretary, Mr. Peter Musa expressed deep grief over the loss of lives, injuries to victims and the abduction of many citizens, including women and children on the attacked train/
“Without much being said, the killings and abductions that happened on that train and in various places kept many of us in deep grief that is only worsened by the minister’s statements that are tantamount to dancing on the graves of dead victims while adding to sorrows for the living,” they stated.
The group said it was disheartening to note the speed with which Mr. Rotimi Amaechi hastened to opportunistically use the tragedy to absolve himself of a team decision by the Federal Executive Council, tactically laying the blame at the feet of both the President and Vice President while also pushing for a N3.7 billion railway surveillance contract for a company that lacks everything required to undertake such project.
“Kaduna State government under Governor El-Rufai had asked the minister to stop operating the trains after 5pm, based on security reports and the minister confirmed that he knew of security threats before asking for the N3.7 billion contracts, hinting that FEC’s collective decision to disapprove of his contract proposal should be blamed.
“Mogjan Limited which Minister Amaechi highly favoured for this specialized contract was registered by a couple living in a Flat 1, Block 1 along Calabar Street in Area 7, Abuja with RC Number 365567 on September 29, 1999, and our findings indicate that the company appear to be positioned as a middleman to collect huge payments for the deployment of security equipment while a company in the United Kingdom does the job.
“Following the train tragedy, Sheikh Nuhu Khalid, Chief Imam of Apo Legislative Quarters Mosque in Abuja is the only one who has lost his job but others far more deserving of immediate sack or resignation hold on to their jobs; under Amaechi’s watch, the corruption at Nigeria Railway Corporation is such that on the ill-fated Abuja – Kaduna train, 398 tickets were sold, 372 ticket holders boarded but the headcount on board was 970!
“It is terribly appalling that while the blood of victims on that train was yet to dry, Minister Amaechi used the site of the tragedy to reportedly ask Nigerians to “contribute to the cost of treating” the survivors of the attack; he also found the moment to be oddly appropriate for thinking about profitable contracts for a middleman company with no relevant track records.
“Now, considering his uninspiring disposition, Mr. Amaechi or an Amaechi presidency (God forbid!) may as well become the worst legacy of insensitivity that any administration can bequeath to Nigeria if President Muhammadu Buhari ever allows such antithesis to overtake the populist mission that his administration once promised Nigerians,” the Kaduna Communities for Social Justice (KCSJ) stated.
