The minority leader of the House, Ndudi Elumelu (PDP, Delta) had moved a motion of urgent national importance, expressing concern about the inefficiency in the management of the Nigerian Railway Corporation despite its 112 years of existence.
There was a mild drama in the House of Representatives on Tuesday during a debate on the need to investigate the recent stoppage of the Lagos-Ibadan train midway after it ran out of fuel.
The minority leader of the House, Ndudi Elumelu (PDP, Delta) had moved a motion of urgent national importance, expressing concern about the inefficiency in the management of the Nigerian Railway Corporation despite its 112 years of existence.
Elumelu had noted a couple of reports on the inefficiency of the corporation, adding, “The sad episode of Thursday 11th, March 2022, where a train conveying passengers and goods from Lagos to Ibadan came to a halt midway due to insufficient fuel, once again endangering the lives of innocent Nigerian travellers on the trip.”
Similarly, the deputy minority leader, Toby Okechukwu lamented the danger in such an incident, saying more lives may be put in danger if no concerted efforts were made to forestall future occurrences.
However, the House Leader, Ado Doguwa interjected, describing Okechukwu as a messenger of doom.
He recalled that Okechukwu had during the recent debate on the scarcity of aviation fuel noted that aircraft could crash-land for lack of fuel, Vanguard reports.
“Mr Speaker, I stand guided, Okechukwu is being dilatory because this is someone trying to be like a messenger of doom. Giving us stories about aircraft crashes, how can you be a messenger of doom. The example he gave about aircraft in the air losing fuel to crash is like a messenger of doom,” Doguwa said.
The Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila then asked Okechukwu to reply.
In his rebuttal, Okechukwu said that his contribution to the motion was necessary because of the huge amount of money sourced from the Chinese to build the infrastructure.
He, therefore, amended the motion that a status enquiry should be imposed on the operations of the NRC
Adopting the amendment and the main motion, the House gave the committee four weeks to report back to the House.