Tinubu seeks NASS approval for another $516m loan
Bola Tinubu
STEPHEN GBADAMOSI, IBADAN
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has asked the National Assembly for approval of another loan of $516,333,007 million.
The loan, from a Deutsche bank, is said to be aimed to fund the execution of Sections 1, Phase 1a and 1b of the Sokoto – Badagry Superhighway.
The President, in a letter addressed to Senate President Godswill Akpabio and read during plenary on Thirsday, stated that the 1,000-kilometre flagship project was designed to link Nigeria’s North-West to the South-West.
The highway, he said, would run from Illela, Sokoto State, through Kebbi, Niger, Kwara, Oyo, and Ogun, terminating in Badagry, Lagos State.
According to the letter, the loan will cover Sections 1, Phase 1a, and 1b, spanning 120-kilometre of the total 1,000-kilometre corridor.
The President said proposed financing arrangement comprised 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.
He said the Federal Government would provide counterpart funding in the sum of ₦265,542,689,569, covering land acquisition, compensation, and ancillary infrastructure.
The loan has a tenor of nine years, 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 President noted that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) had already approved the financing arrangement and requested the Senate to include the loan in the national borrowing plan.
The letter highlights that the superhighway will improve North-South connectivity, enhance safety, and reduce logistics costs.
The project is also expected to strengthen trade, food security, and national cohesion by linking production zones to markets and ports as well as reserve the central median for future rail integration and utility corridors.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio, who presided over the plenary, referred the request to the Committee on Foreign and Local Debts.
The committee is expected to report back within one week.
