$516m Loan- Sokoto- Lagos Superhighway: Reps approve Tinubu’s request

BY BONNY AMADI

The Nigerian House of Representatives has approved President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s request to borrow $516,333,007 foreign loan to support the construction of sections of the Sokoto-Badagry (Lagos) superhighway. The green chamber ratified the president’s request during Tuesday’s plenary following the presentation of a report by Abdullahi Rasheed, deputy chairman of the committee on aids, loans, and debts management.

The lawmakers passed the president’s request in record time.

The process moved from the reading of the loan request letter by Tajudeen Abbas, speaker of the house, to the consideration of the committee’s report at the committee on supply and final approval.

The lower legislative chamber demanded quarterly reports from the ministry of finance, Debt Management Office (DMO), and works ministry on the project implementation and disbursement of funds. In the letter, Tinubu said the loan — to be sourced from a syndicated financing facility by Deutsche Bank — will fund sections 1, 1A and 1B of the project, covering about 120 kilometres. Tinubu said the Sokoto-Badagry (Lagos) superhighway, a flagship infrastructure initiative under the renewed hope agenda, is designed to open up Nigeria’s north-west and south-west economic corridor through the construction of an approximately 1,000-kilometre high-capacity carriageway, linking Sokoto, Kebbi, Niger, Kwara, Oyo, Ogun, and Lagos states, stretching from Illela to Badagry.

“The proposed financing arrangement comprises a syndicated loan to be secured through Deutsche Bank AG, supported by a partial risk guarantee from the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC), the insurance arm of the Islamic Development Bank,” the letter reads. Tinubu said the federal government will provide counterpart funding of N265,542,689,569 to cover land acquisition, compensation, and ancillary infrastructure.

The president said the loan has a nine-year tenure, including a grace period of up to three years, with an interest rate not exceeding the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) SOFR plus 5.3 percent per annum.

Tinubu said the road project would improve network performance along the corridor, reduce logistics costs and travel time, facilitate trade and strengthen food security, promote national integration by linking production zones to markets and ports, and provide long-term intermodal flexibility through provision for future rail integration and utility corridors.