Sukuk Funding Has Enhanced Completion Of Priority Roads, Bridges Across The Country By FG - Fashola As one of the beneficiary ministries of SUKUK funding for road transport infrastructure in the country, the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, SAN, on Thursday provided details on roads and bridges which the SUKUK funding has enabled the Ministry to undertake since its inception in 2015 across the length and breadth of Nigeria   SUKUK, which the Minister described as a form of Public Private Partnership (PPP), was among the funding options adopted by the Federal Government under President Muhammadu Buhari to fund the construction of critical roads in Nigeria. At the symbolic presentation ceremony of the N250 billion Federal Government 2021 SUKUK cheque to the three beneficiary Ministries, Fashola gave account on how his ministry spent the previous SUKUK funds given to his Ministry.  The Minister stated that from the first SUKUK funds of N100 billion, 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. Fashola went further to explain that SUKUK financing has enhanced completion of some priority road and bridge projects across the country which includes:  the completion of 296 KM Sokoto-Tambuwal-Jega-Yawuri in Sokoto and Kebbi States, completion of 142 KM Section II (Shuwarin - Azare ) of Kano-Maiduguri road, completion of 106 KM Section III (Azare- Potiskum) of the Kano-Maiduguri road  and the completion of 1.2 kilometer /360m length Ikom Bridge.  The Minister also explained that the impact of debt and borrowing on the economic lives of the people was significant; pointing out that proper usage of the debt on infrastructure in Nigeria had helped  in galvanizing the economy. “Another thing to take home is that debt properly used can galvanize the economy. It is that debt instrument that serves so many people from diverse parts of Nigeria here today,” he explained. Speaking on wealth creation through proper usage of borrowed funds, he said: "Wealth is distributed across when committed to infrastructure. Money moving around the economy, it creates consistent employment and engagement. Suppliers are at work, " he said Fashola commended the supportive role of all the stakeholders that made it possible for the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing to succeed in the delivery of road transport infrastructure to Nigerians, listing the National Assembly for their approval, Federal Ministry of Finance and the Debt Management Office.  Earlier, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. (Dr.) Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, listed the three beneficiary ministries of the N250 billion 2021 SUKUK and the amount allocated each as :  Federal Ministry of Works and Housing (N210 billion), Ministry of Federal Capital Territory (N29 billion) and Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs (N10 billion). Mrs. Ahmed disclosed that so far from 2017 to date the total SUKUK funds issued to the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing was N362.577 billion which the Debt Management Office issued on behalf of the Federal Government for the funding of key road projects through SUKUK, stating that government has given priority to capital expenditure spending in order to sustain the momentum of the economy. In her remarks, the Director-General of the Debt Management Office (DMO), Mrs. Patience Oniha, said that presentation of the N250 billion SUKUK cheque to the three ministries was in line with the President Muhammadu Buhari administration’s strategic objectives of development of infrastructure. She said: “Improvement in infrastructure is widely accepted as one of the best means of creating jobs, supporting and attracting new businesses and promoting growth and development due to its multiplier effects”. She added that the introduction of SUKUK as a source of raising funds for government has improved road infrastructure across the six geo-political zones of the country. “sI am pleased to report that since the debut N100 billion Sovereign SUKUK in September 2017, the DMO has issued three more, getting better each time and bringing the total amount raised through SUKUK so far to N612.577 billion,” she said.   ...

INFRASTRUCTURE DELIVERY: FASHOLA CLARIFIES MISREPRESENTATION OF HIS STATEMENT ON NIGERIA, US * Alerts right thinking and well-meaning people to the antics of the main opposition The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola SAN on Friday clarified the statement mischievously attributed to him in a section of the media as saying that Nigeria's achievements in Infrastructure has surpassed that of the United States. Responding to a journalist’s question on the issue during an inspection tour of the ongoing rehabilitation of the Abuja- Kaduna- Zaria -Kano Dual Carriageway Sections I to III, Fashola said:"The first point to make is that I didn't say that Nigeria's infrastructure was better than America's infrastructure because certainly anybody who knows what he is doing will know that America is a much richer nation, their infrastructure is well ahead of Nigeria." "What I was talking about at the presentation with the All Progressives Congress, (APC) Youth Ministerial Conference was about the challenges of infrastructure and that it is universal, every country commits to infrastructure as a legitimate way to create work, to grow the economy and distribute wealth as we have seen here." "That’s the first point I was making, and that in a democracy you always  need the Parliament to authorize what you spend on infrastructure and so I was making the comparison that Buhari has been able to get his Parliament to authorize his spending, and that is why we were even able to gather here (at the Special Ministerial Conversational Conference). But that the American government is struggling to get authorisation from their own parliament to start what we are already doing. I didn’t say our infrastructure is better than theirs," he said. According to the Minister, the deliberate misreporting of his clear statement of fact and the almost spontaneous orchestration of reactions based on the misrepresentation on the social media should send a clear warning to right thinking and well-meaning Nigerians about the type of campaign which the main opposition wants to run towards the 2023 election. “It’s a campaign of lies and misinformation. The main opposition has a very uncomfortable relationship with the truth, so they are going to run a campaign of lies and disinformation, so we must be ready for it.” "The progress we are making here make them very uncomfortable, so they can't disprove that work is going on, they can't disprove that infrastructure is being developed so they are going to look for every way to distort  and misinform the public," he said . Noting that he remains undaunted by the unwarranted attacks based on misinformation, the Minister said he took time to make the clarification in the course of the inspection tour to alert well-meaning Nigerians to the kind of campaign which the main opposition wants to run. ...

Aggressive Work on Road Projects to Resume as 2021/2022 SUKUK Fund is set to be released The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola SAN has assured Nigerians that work on road projects being funded through the SUKUK would soon witness an increase in pace as government is set to release the SUKUK fund for 2021 and 2022. Fashola gave the assurance, Thursday, January 27th, 2022, while speaking to journalists after inspecting the ongoing Dualization of the Kano - Katsina Road Phases I and II in Kano and Kaduna States in response to a question on the funding challenges faced by the contractors handling such projects. The Minister said, "The Minister of Finance has told us that very soon SUKUK Fund for 2021 and 2022 will be ready for release and that will be in a couple of weeks from now, so that all of the backlog of funding on Works and certificates that have accrued will be paid and work can continue.” The Minister expressed satisfaction on the progress of the project which was a single carriageway before the decision of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to expand it to a dual carriageway thereby making it more efficient for the increased volume of traffic in that area. On the Issue of compensation for the people affected by the project, Fashola said, " That is essentially a state government responsibility because of the power granted to the state under the constitution with respect to land control and what we need really is the right of way, this is the cooperation needed from the states." He however expressed confidence that the challenge of compensation will soon be over with the assurance given by the Kano State Government that steps were being taken to settle it and hoped that the Katsina State Government would do the same. He explained that the reason why some Sections of the roads were skipped was because of the pending issues of compensation, adding that as soon as they were settled, the contractors will return to those portions to do their work. The Minister described the road as strategic because it is serving the biggest grain market in the country from where goods are moved to as far as Libya. On the economic and social significance of the roads to the people, Fashola said when contractors get money they pay their own suppliers like those who supplied asphalt, crush stones, sand and so on thereby redistributing the wealth of the nation around the economy and creating employment in the process. Fashola said when the President said he was going to take one hundred million people out of poverty, he was referring to the employment that would be generated through investment in infrastructure development among others. He stated that with the support of the President his Ministry will continue to implement programmes that will engender the distribution of the wealth of the country to people at the lowest bottom of the pyramid.   " These were the things the President referred to when he said he wants to remove 100 million people out of poverty," he said. "As you build efficiency, you are building prosperity. Even though the President cannot reach physically everyone individually, he is having a handshake with the people through infrastructural development." Earlier, the Federal Controller of Works in Kano State, Engineer Yahaya Baba Ali informed the Minister and his entourage that the dualization of the 73 kilometres Kano - Katsina Road Phase I begins from Dawanau roundabout in Kano and terminates at the Katsina border. The road, he said serves the biggest grain market in the country which is located at Dawanau in Kano State. Engineer Ali also informed the Minister that the contractor had completed work on the construction of additional carriageway, while the reconstruction of the old carriageway had reached 30 percent. The representative of the CCECC, the construction company handling the project, Mr Ren Shaoshuri gave the assurance that the project which had reached 83 percent will be completed on target if funding is provided. Engineer Goni Tahir, Federal Controller of Works in Katsina State also assured the Minister that the contractor was ready to deliver the Phase II of the project with improved funding.     ...