President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Thursday sought Senate approval for a $516,333,007 million loan from a Deutsche bank to fund the execution of Sections 1, Phase 1a and 1b of the Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway.
In a letter addressed to Senate President Godswill Akpabio and read during plenary, the President stated that the 1,000km flagship project is designed to link Nigeria’s Northwest to the Southwest.
The president said the highway 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 120km of the total 1,000km corridor.
Tinubu said the proposed financing arrangement comprises 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.
According to him, 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 percent per annum.
Tinubu noted that the Federal Executive Council had already approved the financing arrangement and requested the Senate to include the loan in the national borrowing plan.
The superhighway is expected to 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.
Speaking on the project, Senator Mohammed Adamu Aliero (Kebbi Central) lauded the initiative, noting:
“This project has been on the ground for the last 55 years,” Aliero said. “I have inspected the project and I have seen the progress made. I am highly impressed.”
Aliero confirmed that ongoing work features both concrete and asphalt roads fitted with solar streetlights.
He urged the committee to expeditiously approve the request adding that , upon completion, travel time from Sokoto to Lagos would drop by more than 70%—reducing a 13-hour journey to approximately six hours.
