The Kaduna-Kano railway is about 90 per cent complete, the Federal Government has said. Unresolved land acquisition and compensation claims still delay its connection to the existing Abuja-Kaduna corridor.
Funso Adebiyi, permanent secretary of the Federal Ministry of Transportation, gave the assessment during an inspection that included a train journey from Jaji towards Kano. The ministry published its update on 23 October.
Adebiyi identified claims within Kaduna metropolis as the main obstacle to completing the remaining connection. He said the government would give the issue immediate attention when the inspection team returned to Abuja.
Habiba Buhari, the ministry’s director of rail transport services, said officials examined track geometry, alignment, drainage and concrete works ahead of final assessments and test runs. The inspection journey also enabled them to assess passenger comfort.
The ministry’s percentage is a construction estimate. Its statement did not announce the start of through passenger services from Abuja to Kano or provide a timetable for those journeys.
During a separate courtesy visit to the Emir of Zazzau, Ahmad Bamalli, Adebiyi promised to examine complaints from residents whose properties had been affected by railway construction in Zaria.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria’s account, he said the ministry would review the relevant records and meet affected residents the following week. He acknowledged concerns about the existing statutory compensation framework and pledged to work towards an acceptable resolution.
The undertaking concerned outstanding claims and proposed discussions. The report did not give a total compensation amount, identify a payment date or establish that the grievances had already been settled.
Bamalli appealed for compensation issues to be resolved. The visit brought the concerns of host communities into discussions about completing the railway link, alongside the technical inspection of the line.
The Kaduna-Kano project began under former President Muhammadu Buhari. He performed its groundbreaking ceremony in Kano on 15 July 2021, describing it as part of the wider Lagos-Kano railway modernisation programme.
At that ceremony, the government presented the line as a connection between the commercial centres of Kano and Kaduna and the Federal Capital Territory. The project was also intended to form part of a wider network linking northern markets with southern ports.
The Abuja-Kaduna service had already begun commercial operations in 2016. Buhari also inaugurated the Lagos-Ibadan railway for full commercial operations in June 2021. Those completed sections and the unfinished Kaduna-Kano extension are separate stages of the modernisation programme.
Financing subsequently included support from China Development Bank. In a statement dated 7 January 2025, the bank said it had recently granted a €245 million loan, equivalent at the time to $254.76 million, for the Kano-Kaduna railway project. The bank identified China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation as the contractor for the 203-kilometre standard-gauge line. It said it would work with Nigeria on further loan disbursements as construction continued.
That financing announcement preceded the latest construction assessment by more than a year. The current transport ministry update concerns work still required to connect the northern extension with the existing Abuja-Kaduna corridor.
Archive location photograph: Rigasa railway station on the existing Kaduna-Abuja route, 31 August 2020, Degeneral1419. Not the October 2026 inspection or the unfinished extension. Source, CC BY-SA 4.0. Low-resolution original, 682 × 583 pixels. Cropped and resized on prepared artwork; photographic adaptation under the same licence.
