Reps give Transport Minister 48hrs to appear over Abuja-Kaduna train derailment

By Gift ChapiOdekina

The House of Representatives Committee on Land Transport has given the Minister of Transportation, Sa’idu Alkali, 48 hours to appear before it over last week’s derailment of an Abuja-Kaduna train, which had 618 passengers on board.

The committee issued the summon after the minister failed to attend its investigative hearing on the incident.

Chairman of the Committee, Blessing Onuh, described Alkali’s absence as unacceptable and insensitive to Nigerians affected by the near tragedy.

“A toad does not run in the daytime for nothing. We are on recess, but many of us cut our break and came all the way from Lagos because of this national tragedy, only for the minister to snub the parliament.

”We take strong exception to this. Our brothers and sisters were endangered. This is not a joke. We are therefore suspending this meeting and mandating the Minister to appear in person within 48 hours,” Onuh declared.

Deputy spokesman of the House, Philip Agbese, was more scathing, saying Alkali’s action showed incompetence and disregard for Nigerians.

He said: “This clearly shows he is not competent to handle the job entrusted to him by the President. It is a dangerous signal that he does not care about the lives of Nigerians or the reputation of this government.

”The President has warned that no minister or agency head should ignore parliament. This minister has chosen contempt. If he fails to show up, Nigerians should know there is effectively no minister of transportation in this country.”

Another member of the committee, Cyril Hart, expressed disappointment that Alkali, a former lawmaker, chose to dishonour the parliament.

“Over 618 Nigerians could have died. This raises serious questions about the integrity of our rail infrastructure. For a former lawmaker to shun this committee when Nigerians need answers is a betrayal.

”Even the Railway MD has once sought to join this parliament, so he knows the respect due to it. We cannot allow anyone to toy with the lives of our people,” Hart noted.

The committee resolved to suspend its hearing until the minister appears in person, warning that his continued disregard would be reported directly to the President.

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