The Nigerian Senate has opened an official investigation into railway contracts carried out under former President Muhammadu Buhari.
The move comes after lawmakers raised serious concerns about repeated derailments and technical faults on the Itakpe–Warri rail corridor.
On Tuesday, the lawmakers agreed that the situation demanded urgent scrutiny due to growing safety fears and the huge funds spent on the projects.
The probe will look into how the projects were executed, supervised and maintained.
The decision followed a motion presented by Senator Ede Dafinone, who warned that the Itakpe–Warri line has suffered “disturbing and persistent technical breakdowns” despite being newly completed.
He told his colleagues that the rail line has recorded about 10 derailments and several service disruptions between 2023 and 2025.
According to him, passengers have been placed at risk and confidence in the rail system has dropped drastically.
Dafinone pushed for a full technical audit, tighter supervision, better maintenance plans and a Senate oversight visit to key sections of the route, especially the Agbor axis in Delta State.
He also suggested the creation of a National Rail Safety and Standards Unit to monitor rail safety and ensure compliance across all networks.
Contributing to the debate, Senator Abdul Ningi described the failures as “a national embarrassment.”
He reminded the chamber that huge loans were taken to build the system and insisted Nigerians deserve to know why the infrastructure is already struggling.
Senator Patrick Ndubueze asked for a complete review of the Nigerian Railway Corporation, arguing that the agency had not delivered on its mandate.
Senator Solomon Adeola also demanded full transparency in loan utilisation, contract award processes and project execution.
Several senators backed the call to expand the investigation beyond the Itakpe–Warri route, saying similar lapses across other corridors suggest broader structural issues.
Senator Babangida Hussaini attributed the failures to poor planning and weak maintenance culture.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio praised the motion and noted that the rail problems did not start under the current government.
He stressed that the legislature must find out “what went wrong, from loan procurement to execution and maintenance,” and ensure that public funds were not wasted.
At the end of the session, the Senate instructed the Ministry of Transportation and the Nigerian Railway Corporation to immediately rehabilitate the Itakpe–Warri line, deploy more coaches and strengthen safety systems.
The chamber also gave its transport committee six weeks to present findings on all Buhari-era rail projects.