By Ajibola Adedoye
The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) says 803 firms have submitted applications for its 2025 contract bids as against 524 firms that applied in 2024.
NRC’s Managing Director, Dr Kayode Opeifa, said this at the 2025 Bid Opening ceremony on Tuesday in Lagos.
Opeifa attributed the surge to increased confidence of people in the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.
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Opeifa, represented by Director, Medical Services, Dr Albert Asowata said: “Our scope has been expanded. One of such programme is the railing with the state. All the state governments are now keying into railways.
“Just three days ago, the Federal Government said that the Kano-Maradi rail line will be completed in 2026, which signifies renewed vigor and hope to expand the rail industry, to move the country forward.
“Again, I read riot act to all those people that have blocked our rail line right-of-way to the jetty. A committee has been set up to review the presence of these people on the railway right-of-way to the jetty.
“We want to ensure there is an access to the jetty for goods to come in through the rail to other parts of the country,” he said.
Opeifa added that the various initiatives in the sector contributed to the surge with many companies applying for bids when compared with 2024 figure.
He, however, assured all the bidders that the bidding would be conducted in an unbiased, transparent and efficient manner by a well-trained team.
“The critical areas that we are looking at for this fiscal year are on wash-out in civil works, bridges and culvert.
“This is because most of the tracks are already washed out by heavy rains. We are trying to ensure that all the wash-outs are taken care of,” he said.
The bidding process had independent observers such as the Civil Liberty Organisation, the Nigerian Network of NGOs, the Federal Ministry of Transportation and the Chartered Institute for Purchasing and Supply Management, amongst others.
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