PROTECTING GOVERNMENT INFRASTRUCTURE: Senate mulls death penalty for vandals.
Oru Leonard
Chairman, Committee on Land Transport, Senator has Adamu Ailero has said that the red chambers may recommend death penalty for vandals.
Ailero stated this in an interview today during an oversight function between members of the joint National Assembly Committee on Land Transport with the the Honourable Minister of Transportation, Senator Said Ahmed Alkali, to inspect developments on railway modernisation project between Kaduna and Kano.
According to Ailero, the additional stringent measure of penalty recommended was to deter vandalism of public infrastructure.
Senator Adamu Ailero and the Chairman of the Senate Committee as well as Honourable Blessing Onuh of the House of Representative who spoke on behalf of the legislators, expressed satisfaction at the developments and the progress achieved by Federal Ministry of Transportation and pledged legislative support for more budgetary fundings to ensure that the project can be completed and be put to good use before the projected time, 2026.
The legislators who embarked on the inspection include Senator Adamu Ailero, Senator Udende Emmanuel, Senator Tony Nwoye, Senator Maidoki Garba, Honourable Blessing Onuh (Chairman), Honourable Cyril Hart (Member), Honourable Sani Yakubu (Member), Honourable Danladi Suleiman (Member), Ango Abubakar (Chief of Staff), Jokotoye Solomon (Clerk), Ali Tanko (Clerk), Sunday Adelani (Clerk) and Anigwe Simon Chukwuemeka (Clerk).
Earlier at the commencement of the inspection trip, the Honourable Minister of Transportation, Senator Said Ahmed Alkali has disclosed that the inspection visit was to enable the law makers see firsthand and appreciate the developments and challenges involved in extending rail services to Kano and then to Maradi in Niger Republic.
The Minister emphasised the importance of carrying the law makers along, noting that the contractors involved in the project, Messrs CCECC and Mota Engil have not been able to source the loans to help the country to implement the railway modernization project at his Ministry’s desired pace. The bulk of the funding for the project, Alkali disclosed, is to come from China Development Bank. This funding constraints, he stated, necessitated that the government and his ministry rely on budgetary provisions to fund its counterpart requirement for the project.
