Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, has expressed the hope that the proposed Railway Bill will lead to a new era of growth for the private sector to participate more in the economy.
He said this at a one day public hearing organised by the Senate Committee on Land Transportation on the Nigerian Railway Corporation Act repeal and re-enactment Bill 2015 in Abuja.
This is according to a statement by Mr Alex Okoh, Head, Public Communications of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) on Thursday in Abuja.
The statement reported Saraki as saying that the Railway Act was one of the high priority bills of the National Assembly.
“The bill is one of the high priority bills of the National Assembly which members are determined to ensure its passage in the manner that will be advised by participants at public hearing.”
He said it was a major determinant of the success or otherwise of the nation’s economic reform package.
He said that not much had been achieved in the past to move the critical vehicle of the economy from its colonial initiative to a 21st century economy solution.
Saraki said that the existing law in the rail subsector was drafted and enacted to support an outmoded model that restricted management and investments in railway to the public sector.
“Aside the fact that this law has become too old and outmoded, many experts agree that there is need to separate the regulator from the operator and give investment remit to both the states and the private investor to invest in the sector.”
The measure, he said, was to ensure a much more rapid deployment of the rail system across the nation and bring in competition, innovation and drive.
Organiser of the public hearing and Chairman, Senate Committee on Land Transport, Sen. Gbenga Ashafa, said the repeal and re-enactment of the act was targeted at revitalising and enhancing the operational framework and removal of impediments.
The statement also said that stakeholders stressed the need to consider the bill alongside the National Transport Commission (NTC) Bill in line with the recommendation of BPE to ensure a regulator for the transport sector.
The stakeholders, who comprised key players in the transport sector, labour, professional and civil society groups, said that for the sector to be reformed, a regulator needed to be set up to monitor its activities.
Other stakeholders were unanimous that the time had come to pass for the NTC Bill and the other transport bills pending before the National Assembly to open up the sector.
In his submission at the public hearing, the Acting Director General of BPE, Mr Vincent Akpotaire, called for the constitution of a technical committee of relevant stakeholders in the industry.
If constituted, the committee is expected to review and harmonise the outcome of the public hearing with the National Transport Policy.
Also, the committee would review the present bill and align it with the National Transport Commission Bill and other bills pending in the other modes of transportation.
The statement also said that the President of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), Prof. Ben Aigbokhaen, enjoined the National Assembly to pass the bill concurrently with the NTC Bill.
He also said that for the proposed railway bill to be meaningful and engender private investors’ participation, there was the need for an independent regulator which the NTC Bill represented.
