Works Ministry Gets N110b SUKUK Funding for Roads. The Federal Ministry of Works and Housing on Monday received a cheque of N110 billions of SUKUK funding for the execution of critical road projects across the six geo-political zones of the country. Two Ministries benefited from a total of N130 billion 2022 SUKUK Fund, these are: Federal Ministry of Works and Housing and the Federal Capital Territory. While the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing received N110 billion, the Ministry of the Federal Capital Territory received N20 billion. The SUKUK fund is a form of Public Private Partnership (PPP) which was among the funding options adopted by the Federal Government under President Muhammadu Buhari to fund the construction of critical roads in Nigeria. Receiving the cheque on behalf of the Ministry, the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, SAN gave an account of the nature of the nation’s road before the introduction of the SUKUK funding. According to him, the total capital budget for road projects across the nation for Federal Ministry of Works and Housing in year 2015 was N18 billion. He  said: “As of 2015 the Capital budget for Works was just N18 billion for all Nigerian roads at the time oil prices were just dropping shy of a hundred dollar per barrel and all that could be committed to Nigerian roads was just N18 billion.” Explaining the impact of the meager amount spent on Nigerian roads then, he said that construction companies were therefore laying off staff because the Federal Government was owning these companies. “That was the story before SUKUK,” he said. Fashola stated that this development could not fund the nation’s road projects adequately, adding that despite the fact that the Capital budget position of the Ministry was moved from N18 billion to over N260 billion in 2016, Federal Government had to look into alternative sources of funding road projects because that was not still enough. “That is where the SUKUK funding came in and through the SUKUK, we have completed several road and bridge projects across the six geo-political zones of the country,”. According to him, SUKUK financing has enhanced the completion of some of the priority road and bridge projects across the country. Earlier the host, Minister of Finance, Budget & National Planning, Dr. Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed while presenting the cheque to the two Ministries said that President Muhammadu Buhari was committed to the development of road infrastructure of the country. While listing the intervention of the Federal Government of Nigeria Sovereign SUKUK Fund in the Nation’s Road infrastructure, Dr. Ahmed disclosed that in 2017, the sum of N100 Billion was expended on the nation’s road infrastructure, N200 Billion in 2018, N362.56 Billion in 2020, N612.56 Billion in 2021, and N742.56 Billion in 2022 respectively. She said: “This symbolic event therefore is part of the celebration of the contribution of the Sovereign SUKUK Fund to road infrastructure development over the years.” ...

Implementation Of Phase Two Of NNPC-Funded Tax Credit Scheme On 44 Road Projects Nationwide Gains Momentum •      As Fashola Convenes Stakeholders’ Meeting, unveil roads   •      Describes policy as a very defining legacy for President Buhari •      NNPCL, FIRS other stakeholders pledge to sustain funding till completion •      Contractors pledge timely delivery of quality road infrastructure •      This Minister has set a record of achievements – NARTO President With appreciable progress being made in the first Phase, the implementation of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited and Federal Inland Revenue Service (NNPCL/FIRS) Second Phase for the rehabilitation and construction of 44 critical roads across the country under the Tax Credit Scheme initiative of the Federal Government gained momentum Tuesday as the Minister of Works and Housing convened a meeting of the Stakeholders and briefed the press while also unveiling the roads. The Meeting came barely a fortnight after the approval of the Memorandum on the proposal by the NNPC and its subsidiaries, NNPC Exploration and Production (NEPL) and NNPC Gas Infrastructure Company Limited (NGIC) to undertake the rehabilitation of 44 roads spread across the six geopolitical zones of the country. The selected roads, amounting to 4,554.19 kilometres, include those in the South-South zone which are the Completion of Benin-Warri Dual Carriageway, Edo/Delta States; East-West Road, (Section I) Warri-Kaiama in Delta/Bayelsa States; East-West Road (Section II –I) Port Harcourt-Ahoada in Rivers State; East-West Road (Section II-II) Ahoada-Kaiama in Rivers/Bayelsa States and East-West Road (Section III) Onne Junction-Eket in Akwa Ibom State. Others are Dualization of East-West Road (Section IV) Eket-Oron also in Akwa Ibom; Upgrading of 15-kilometre Port Harcourt-Onne Junction (Section IIIA) in Rivers State; Construction of Eket Bypass (Dual Carriageway) in Akwa Ibom State; Dualization of Lokoja-Benin Road: Obajana Junction-Benin Section II Phase I: Okene-Auchi, Kogi/Edo States; Dualization of Lokoja-Benin Road: Obajana Junction-Benin Section III Phase I: Auchi-Ehor, Kogi/Edo States; Dualization of Lokoja-Benin Road: Obajana Junction-Benin Section IV Phase I: Ehor-Benin City; and Nembe-Brass Road in Bayelsa State. All the roads amount to a total of 1,308.3 kilometres. The North East Zone has a total of 1,054 kilometres consisting of Rehabilitation of Yola-Mubi-Maiduguri Road in Adamawa/Borno States; Rehabilitation of Maiduguri - Monguno Road; Rehabilitation of Numan-Jalingo Road in Taraba/Adamawa States; Rehabilitation of Yola-Hong-Mubi Road in Adamawa State; Reconstruction of Bali-Serti-(Gashaka)-Gembu Road in Taraba State; and Rehabilitation of Yashi - Deguri - Yalo Road in Bauchi State. North Central zone has 763.13 kilometres consisting of Rehabilitation of Minna-Zungeru-Tegina-Kontagora Road in Niger State, Section I: Minna-Tegina; Rehabilitation of Minna-Zungeru-Tegina-Kontagora Road in Niger State, Section II: Tegina-Kontagora; Shendam-Yelwa-Mato Junction-Taraba Border with Spurs in Plateau/Taraba States; Dualization of Suleija-Minna Road in Niger State: and Dualization of Lokoja-Benin Road: Obajana Junction-Benin Section I Phase I: Obajana-Okene, Kogi State. Others include the Reconstruction of the existing Pavement and Completion of the additional Pavement on the Dualisation of Abuja - Lokoja Highway Section Ill: Abaji - Koton Karfe Road in Abuja/ Kogi State; Construction of the Jarmai-Bashar-Zuruk-Andame-Karim Lamido Road in Plateau and Taraba States; Reconstruction and Expansion of Mararaba - Keffi Road in Nasarawa State. The North West Zone has a total of 980 Kilometres of roads being reconstructed consisting of Dualization of Zaria-Funtua-Gusau-Sokoto Road in Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara and Sokoto States: Section I Zaria-Funtua-Gusau; Dualization of Zaria-Funtua-Gusau-Sokoto Road in Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara and Sokoto States: Section II Gusau-Sokoto Road; Dualization of Zaria-Funtua-Gusau-Sokoto Road in Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara and Sokoto States: Section II Gusau-Sokoto Road in Zamfara State; Dualization of Zaria-Funtua-Gusau-Sokoto Road in Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara and Sokoto States: Section III Gusau-Sokoto Road in Zamfara and Sokoto States; Dualization and Construction of Kano-Kwanar Dauja-Hadejia Road in Kano/Jigawa States, Section I. Tsalle-Hadejia; Dualization and Construction of Kano-Kwanar Dauja-Hadejia Road in Kano/Jigawa States, Section II. Kano-Tsalle; and Rehabilitation of Kaduna-Pambeguwa-Jos Road in Kaduna/Plateau States. South East has 297.52 kilometres of roads consisting of Rehabilitation of Aba - Owerri Road NNPC Depot Expressway, Abia State; Rehabilitation of Otuocha - Anam- Nzam- Innoma-Iheaka- Ibaji Section of Otuocha - Ibaji-Odulu-Ajegwu in Anambra State; Construction of Ihiala-Orlu-Umuduru Road (Ihiala-Amaifeke Section) and Completion of Spur in Isseke Town-Amafuo-Uli in Imo/Anambra States. It also includes Rehabilitation of Old Enugu - Onitsha Road (Opi Junction - Ukehe Okpatu-Aboh Udi-Oji to Anambra Border) in Enugu State; Construction of Omor-Umulokpa Road in Anambra and Enugu States; Rehabilitation of Ozalla-Akpugo-Amagunze-Ihuokpara-Nkomoro-Isu-Onicha (Enugu-Onicha) with a Spur to Onunweke in Enugu State; and Rehabilitation of Old Enugu – Port Harcourt Road (Agbogugu-Abia Border Spur to Mmaku) in Enugu State. The South-West has a total of 150.56 Km of roads consisting of Rehabilitation and Expansion of Lagos-Badagry Expressway (Agbara Junction-Nigeria/Benin Border) in Lagos State; Dualization of Akure-Ita Ogbolu-Iju-Ado Ekiti State Road, Section I: Akure - Ita Ogbolu - Iju - Ekiti State Border in Ondo State; and Dualization of Akure-Ita Ogbolu-Iju-Ado Ekiti State Road, Section II: Ita Ogbolu - Iju – Ado-Ekiti in Ekiti State. In his remarks at the Meeting and Press Briefing, Fashola described the public private sector agreement as a very defining legacy for President Muhammadu Buhari pointing out that the impact of the “very innovative investment policy” would help Nigeria to really do business both locally and internationally being a sound infrastructure-based investment policy on which business is done. The Minister, who recalled that back in 2015 at the inception of the Buhari Administration, contractors were being owed two to three years’ payment arrears resulting in the shutdown of many project sites and laying off of construction workers by the companies, added that the Buhari administration arrested the situation by budgetary expansion from N18 billion for the whole of Nigeria’s road by the previous administration to N260 billion in 2016. “You were being owed”, the Minister reminded the contractors at the Meeting. “Some of the complaints that I heard at the first meetings that I had with many of you when I was first appointed Minister were that you were paid only 10 percent advance payment two or three years ago. That was how bad the construction industry was when we started”, he said adding that some of the roads were contracted back to “the private sector” to go and raise fund to finance them. Fashola, who also recalled that the roads contracted to the private sector, included the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and the Second Niger Bridge, among others, added, “But where was the private sector going to raise hundreds of billions of Naira to fund them”. He explained that the Buhari administration had to utilize more practical funding initiatives like SUKUK. Recalling the controversies and criticisms that followed the borrowing option which the administration chose to fund the road and bridge projects, the Minister, who acknowledged the concern of the people over debt, however, added, that the debts “are buying roads, bridges, airports and seaports, assets that will last and sustain Nigeria’s development for the next 50 years”. He pointed out that the administration also met debt when it took power adding, however, that the difference between it and its predecessor was that the debts it met on assumption of office in 2015 had no assets attached to them while the Buhari administration invested its debts on infrastructure assets. He said the choices at the time were either borrow or increase taxation noting that without any of the choices, the economy would collapse. Faced with the choices, the Minister said, the administration took the borrowing option and also utilized an expansionist fiscal budget from N18 billion to N260 billion, adding that it thereafter supported the SUKUK and also went to recover some of the monies taken away from this country which today, according to him, “are building Abuja-Kano Highway, Lagos-Ibadan and the nearly completed 2ndNiger Bridge”. Giving a brief history of the NNPC/FIRS agreement, Fashola, who said that the NNPCL was investing its resources into infrastructure, explained the ideology of the Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme as “a new model of partnership with the private sector companies whereby government is saying, “Give me my tax in advance and I will invest it in infrastructure”. “That model is why all of you are here”, he told the audience consisting of funding agencies and government representatives as well as contractors and newsmen adding that the innovation “shows the clear difference between two different government policies and it shows how they affect your businesses”. On the 44 roads, Fashola, who explained that many of them have been contracted but without funds to execute them, told the contractors, “This intervention, therefore, is to complete those roads and the NNPCL is providing the fund. And this is the crux; because it means that whether we are here, Buhari is here but is going in the next four months, there is sustainability in the completion of these roads. And they have assured me that when you work to specification, the money is there”. Noting that there are 21 roads in Phase One of the Scheme covering 1,804.6 kilometres, Fashola explained that there are other interventions by other groups like the Dangote Group, the NLNG Group in Bodo-Bonny, the MTN Group in Enugu-Onitsha Highway and others adding that this represented a very defining moment for the construction industry and allied industries. The Minister appealed to all the communities encroaching on the right-of-way along the road corridors to vacate the places adding that all the claims for compensation by people who have encroached on such right-of-way would not be honoured while they must quit the encroached places or risk forceful ejection. “Our right-of-way is 45.75 metres from both sides of the centre line. Many of the people who have built petrol stations and shops are inside our right-of-way. We will not pay compensation to those who have trespassed into our land, so they must leave”, he said appealing, however, that where the government needs right-of-way outside its zone, State governments, Village and Traditional Heads should appeal to their people to allow passage. Fashola added, “These roads are not taking away your lands rather they are bringing prosperity to you and we expect that in the process of nation building everyone must be ready to contribute something”. Highlighting the benefits of the revitalized construction industry to the economy, the Minister declared, “We have increased the number of quarrying companies, sand quarrying has also increased from 247 to 302. Granite quarrying companies have also increased from 334 to 655 and those who are quarrying laterite have increased from 108 to 259”. Describing quarrying as a driver of the construction industry, the Minister who said it is impossible to build roads without laterite and granite, added “And this translates to jobs as we build more quarries. I am sure members of NARTO and NURTW who are here can begin to calculate how many trucks trips and how much income that could bring. I was at their AGM recently and the least they could say is “Business is good”. This is the impact of a policy that is driving the economy”. The Minister also cautioned the Contractors against variation in the contract noting that the agreement was very specific on the variation. He declared, “So if you are going to ask for variation please opt out and say you cannot carry on with the programme. That is one of the reasons we are signing the agreement; and that is from the investors’ side because they are not factoring in variation”. He appealed to the financiers for timely payment of certificates for work done adding, “We need to improve the governance side of payment so that when receipts come, payments should not be delayed unnecessarily. Delayed payments increase the chances of variation. So, it is critical now that we also, with dispatch, sign the contracts when we are able, start the work so that we can process all the advance payments”. He urged the legal department of the Ministry to hasten the preparation of the documents so the agreement could be signed soon adding, “We have just finished our EMBER Months programme so this meeting is very strategic and we should handle it properly. The NNPC and FIRS are ready to go. So, I call on our legal department to accelerate the completion of this agreement. The Minister also warned the contractors, “Quality must not be compromised; they will have their own consultants. So, if their consultant queries the quality of your job, you don’t get paid. We don’t have the money; they have the money”. Those who spoke at the event included the Group Managing Director of NNPCL represented by the Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Umar Ajiya, the Chairman of the FIRS, Mr. Mohammed Nami, who all pledged to ensure the success of the Scheme, representatives of the contractors and President of NARTO, President of the NURTW who all hailed the Buhari administration and the Minister for driving the economy positively through massive investment in infrastructure. According to the NARTO President, “This Minister has set a record of achievements”. ...

FG Commences Phase II of The NNPC Road Infrastructure Tax Credit Scheme  … Intervention will ensure cash flow, steady projects completion - Fashola The Honourable Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola has stated that the Federal Executive Council has approved Phase II of the NNPC/ FIRS Road Infrastructure Tax Credit Scheme. The Minister said that the introduction of the NNPC Tax Credit Scheme will ensure the sustainability of funding critical infrastructure in Nigeria Fashola stated this at a press briefing in Abuja where all the stakeholders, including NNPC, FIRS and contractors were in attendance. The Minister noted that contrary to inadequate funding of infrastructure experienced under the past governments, the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, has identified alternative sources of funding that could guarantee sustainability from the beginning of the projects to its completion without hitches Accordingly, he explained that the tax credit scheme is a new model that encourages partnership with private companies where taxes are paid in advance to enable the government invest in notable projects that would be beneficial to its citizens like what is going on in the road sectors of the economy. The Minister also mentioned that the Federal Government which has focused on nine major axis of Nigeria, explained that the A1 – A4 axis of the country covers the Northern part of the country, while the A5 - A9 axis covers the East-West zone of the country. He explained that the successful completion of all the roads would lead to sustainable mobility for Nigerians. The roads like Akure – Ado –Ekiti and East-West which people have been complaining about would be adequately catered for with the approval of the second phase of the NNPC Tax Credit Scheme. On payment of compensation, Fashola noted that compensation would not be paid to anyone occupying the government’s right-of-way, saying that the federal government right of way was 5.75 meters on both sides and appealed to members of the communities occupying it to vacate. Earlier, in his introductory remarks, the Permanent Secretary, represented by the Director Overseeing the Office of the Permanent Secretary, Engineer Folunsho Esan, recalled that in line with the Executive Order 7 (2019) approved phase 1 of NNPC/FIRS Road Infrastructure Tax Credit Scheme on the 27th of October 2021. He stated that with the completion of Phase 1, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) has also approved phase II of the scheme to fund 44 critical road infrastructures to the tune of N1.96 trillion naira. Speaking further, Esan said that as it was done with phase I, phase II would be governed by a set of guidelines to be issued to each contractor, adding that there would be a funding intervention agreement to be implemented in addition to the standard condition of the contract governing the execution of the projects. He said: “The availability of this new funding window will ensure steady cash flow and a timely completion of projects.” He also stated that the NNPC intervention which began in October 2021 with phase I has now occupied the top of the log with a portfolio well in excess of N2.6 trillion. On the part of NNPC, the Group Managing Director who was represented by the Chief Financial Officer of the Corporation, Umar Aliya said that funding would not be an issue anymore as the Corporation is committed to fully funding phase II. He said: “We are committed to setting aside funds for phase II. Funding would not be a problem. What is important to us is that our consultant will need to validate the value for money and the quality of work. We will not compromise the quality and timely completion of work. “ The NNPC MD further assured of the availability of fund, saying that “there is no need for excuses. As for us on our part, we are committed and we implore the contractors to do quality work and do it on time so that the road projects can be open for use to Nigerians,” On his part, the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Services, Mohammed Nami, he commended NNPC for the intervention as well as the contractors for the quality of the job done in phase I of the scheme and assured that the NNPC has the capacity to fund the phase II of the scheme. He explained that most of the roads captured by Executive Order 7 to be executed by NNPC were mostly road projects inherited by the administration of Muhammadu Buhari and they are being fixed by the present administration through the taxes paid by Nigerians “So, we are appealing to Nigerians to trust Executive order 007 so that government will continue to provide the physical infrastructure that our people need. “he said. The representative of the indigenous contractors, Isa Muhammed Gerawa, who spoke in the Hausa language, commended the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari for giving equal opportunity to local contractors to execute such contracts. He described the Minister of Works and Housing , Babatunde Fashola as a hardworking and committed Nigerian under whom many dilapidated Nigerian roads have been fixed and a number of single carriageway now dualized. Gerawa also commended the present government for raising the budget of the Works Ministry from N18bn in 2015 to over N200bn, pointing out that it was a clear commitment of the administration’s desire to fix the nation’s road infrastructure for development. ...