The federal government will spend the N150 billion Sukuk bonds being issued by the Debt Management Office, DMO, in financing 44 ongoing highway projects across the country.
The Minister of State for Works and Housing, Abubakar Aliyu, disclosed this on Thursday at the ongoing Summit on National Policy and Development in Abuja.
He said due to paucity of funds, the federal government had to leverage on alternative sources of funding to finance infrastructure.
According to him, in 2017 and 2018, the federal government spent N200 billion raised through Sukuk bonds on 58 critical highway projects across the country. Twenty- five of these projects were funded in 2017 and 28 in 2018, he said.
“Expansion, Reconstruction and Rehabilitation of Lagos-Ibadan road, Construction of Second Niger Bridge and the Rehabilitation of Abuja-Kaduna-Kano Dual Carriageway are being financed with the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund, PIDF,” he said.
The minister added that this concerted and sustained effort in road infrastructure financing has positively impacted on the physical completion of many of the projects.
The summit was organized by the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Policy Development and Analysis with a carefully selected theme: “Actualizing the Next Level Agenda: Strategies, Prospects and Anticipated Challenges.”
Mr Aliyu said in bridging the infrastructure gap in the country, the works and housing ministry is also intervening in tertiary institutions’ internal road network across the country through the reconstruction of internal roads in 44 tertiary institutions across the country.
“This forms part of the over 500 road and bridge projects currently being undertaken by the Ministry as its contribution to infrastructure provision in the country,” he said.
READ ALSO: Nigerian govt earmarks N12.5bn for irrigation project in Gombe
He said President Muhammadu Buhari has prioritized the provision of basic road infrastructure because it is a necessary prerequisite for the socio-economic development of any nation.
He, therefore, said policies have been put in place to encourage the private sector to partner with the Federal Government in the provision of these critical infrastructure.
“The Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme, RIDRITCS, through which projects like the Apapa-Oworonshoki road, Obajana-Kabba road, the Bodo-Bonny road and the Apapa-Wharf road are being executed by private firms,” he said.
Speaking on the housing sector, Mr Aliyu said the National Housing Programme is on-going across the country with over 2,500 units completed in 34 states of the federation.
“The Federal Mortgage Bank and the Federal Housing Authority are also increasing the housing stock to Nigerians through several programmes designed to achieve this, like, rent-to-own, mortgage finance ownership, etc,” he said.
