Ministry of Works receives N110bn Sukuk funding for roads
The Federal Ministry of Works and Housing on Monday got a cheque of N110billion SUKUK fund to construct roads in six geo-political zones.
Lere-Adams Blessing, the Director of Press and Public Relations, said in a statement that two ministries benefited from N130 billion 2022 SUKUK fund: Federal Ministry of Works and Housing and Federal Capital Territory, with the ministry receiving N110 billion, and FCT, N20 billion respectively.
SUKUK fund is a Public Private Partnership (PPP), among funding options adopted by Federal Government under President Muhammadu Buhari to fund critical roads.
Receiving the cheque, the minister, Babatunde Fashola, gave an account of the nature of roads before SUKUK funding, saying total capital budget for projects in 2015 was N18 billion.
“As of 2015, the budget for Works was N18 billion at the time oil prices were just dropping shy of a $100 per barrel, and all that could be committed to roads was just N18 billion.”
Explaining the impact of the amount, he said construction companies were laying off staff because Federal Government was owing them. ‘’That was the story before SUKUK,” he said.
Fashola noted that this development could not fund roads adequately despite the fact that the budget was moved from N18 billion to over N260 billion in 2016, while adding that SUKUK financing has enhanced completion of some priority road and bridge projects.
Earlier, Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Dr. Zainab Ahmed, said Buhari’s led administration was committed to development of road infrastructure.
