Works, N/Delta, FCT Ministries get N250bn SUKUK fund

The Federal Government Thursday presented N250bn SUKUK fund to three ministries to fund several infrastructures in the country.

The SUKUK fund, which is a Public Private Partnership (PPP), was presented to the Ministry of Works and Housing (N210 bn), the Ministry of Federal Capital Territory (N29bn) and the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs (N10bn).

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The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, who presented the fund, said Nigeria had borrowed N362.577bn from the bond since 2017.

She said the funds had been used to fund key road projects to sustain the momentum of the economy.

She said with the first SUKUK fund of N100bn released in 2017, 25 roads, covering 482 kilometers length, were delivered; the second SUKUK of 2018 had 28 roads covering 643 kilometers length delivered; while the third SUKUK funds of N162 billion covered 44 highway and bridge projects  with the total length of 757 kilometers covered across the nation.

The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, said the impact of debt and borrowing on the economic lives of the people was significant, noting that proper usage of the debt on infrastructure in Nigeria had helped in galvanizing the economy.

“Wealth is distributed across when committed to infrastructure. Money moving around the economy, it creates consistent employment and engagement and suppliers are at work,” he said.

The Director-General of the Debt Management Office (DMO), Patience Oniha, said the presentation of the N250bn SUKUK cheque to the three ministries was in line with the President Muhammadu Buhari administration’s strategic objectives of development of infrastructure.