A Nigerian ruling-party campaign council says the Kaduna-Kano railway will be inaugurated Dec. 3, a date absent from federal updates on progress for the planned link between northwest commercial centers.
Premium Times reported that Dele Alake, a spokesperson for the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council, named Dec. 3, 2026, for the ceremony. The report put the Kaduna-Zaria-Kano line at 203 kilometers and said the event would cover a 190-kilometer segment from Jaji to Kano.
The Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation said in an Oct. 23 release that the project was about 90% complete. Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Transportation Funso Adebiyi put the wider route at roughly 200 kilometers. He said an inspection covered 145 kilometers and around 10 kilometers there still required work.
Adebiyi said unresolved land acquisition and compensation matters in Kaduna metropolis were holding up the connection from Jaji to the Abuja-Kaduna rail corridor. The release described the claims as outstanding and said the government was addressing them, but gave no confirmation they had been settled.
A July ministry update had placed the Kaduna-Zaria-Kano section at 80% to 85% complete and set December 2026 for commissioning both it and the Kano-Daura-Katsina section. It listed rolling-stock procurement among remaining milestones and said the project had created jobs for more than 4,500 workers, including about 200 expatriates, while Nigerian engineers and technicians received training.
The government says the rail plan would join commercial centers in Abuja, Kaduna, Zaria and Kano, support economic activity and give passengers another transport option. The ministry's October and July releases do not specify when regular passenger service will begin. They identify resolution of the land claims and rolling-stock procurement as remaining project milestones to monitor.
