Senate okays $516.3m loan for Fed Govt’s Sokoto–Badagry Superhighway
The Senate yesterday approved President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s request for a $516.3 million syndicated loan to finance the construction of the Sokoto–Badagry Superhighway. The road is a major infrastructure project
The Senate yesterday approved President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s request for a $516.3 million syndicated loan to finance the construction of the Sokoto–Badagry Superhighway.
The road is a major infrastructure project aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s North–South economic corridor.
The House of Representatives had approved the facility on Tuesday ahead of the Senate’s action.
The approval followed the consideration of the report of the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts, chaired by Senator Magatagarda Wamakko. The committee has recommended that the request be granted.
The facility is to be secured through Deutsche Bank, in partnership with 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 (IDB).
President Tinubu’s request letter stated that the Federal Government would also provide counterpart funding of N265.54 billion to cover land acquisition, compensation, and related infrastructure.
It explained that the loan carries a nine-year repayment period, including a grace period of up to three years, with an interest rate not exceeding the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) SOFR plus 5.3 per cent per annum. The Federal Executive Council (FEC) had approved the financing structure and its terms.
Outlining the essence of the project, President Tinubu said the Sokoto–Badagry Superhighway is designed as an approximately 1,000-kilometre high-capacity carriageway linking Sokoto, Kebbi, Niger, Kwara, Oyo, Ogun, and Lagos states, from Illela to Badagry.
He said the project would enhance the North–South connectivity, improve road safety, reduce logistics costs and travel time, boost trade, strengthen food security, and promote national integration by linking production areas to markets and ports. It will also provide for future rail and utility corridors.
After deliberations, senators unanimously approved the request at a plenary session presided over by Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin, Chief Whip Mohammed Monguno, and the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions, Adetokumbo Abiru, described it as a key component of the administration’s development agenda.
