President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the construction of the $2.4bn Lagos Red line rail project.

Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, Dr. Dayo Mobereola, said approving the right of way for the project had been a problem for about eight years as the FG in the previous administration was foot-dragging.

The right of way belonged to the Nigeria Railway Corporation, NRC.

 The commissioner stated that the government would complete the Blue Line Light Rail project by the end of 2016.

“We are mindful of the problem of transportation in Lagos State. Towards the end of next year, something will happen. Our rail project is 27 km and we are doing it in phases. We are doing Mile 2 to CMS now and we will do Mile 2 to Okokomaiko later,” he said.

He said Lagos was the only state in the world to have embarked on such project without support from the FG, adding that such projects normally take around seven years to complete.

The commissioner said it took Dubai, with all its resources seven years to complete its rail project and in some places, 22 years.