Nigeria: Buhari Gives Stewardship Accounts On SUKUK, Reveals How It’s Been Used to Finance Critical Road Infrastructure Across Country(PHOTOS)

Nigeria: Bahari Gives Stewardship Accounts On SUKUK, Reveals How It’s Been Used to Finance Critical Road Infrastructure Across Country(PHOTOS).

President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammad Buhari has given his stewardship account on SUKUK and analysed how the sovereign SUKUK has been used finance critical road infrastructure across the country.

In 2017 our administration issued Nigeria’s first Sovereign SUKUK, to finance critical road infrastructure across the country.

We have since followed that initial issuance with subsequent ones in 2018 and 2020, raising a total of 362.577 billion Naira so far from investors.

I am delighted to note that SUKUK-financed road projects are now being delivered. We are in what the Honourable Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, SAN, has termed “Season of Completion and Impact.”

In line with this, I have asked the Ministers in whose States projects have been completed, to represent me at the ceremonies marking the formal completion and handover of these projects.

I am pleased to announce that we have thus far handed over the following completed roads/sections:

KEBBI/SOKOTO: Sokoto—Tambuwal—Jega Road, constituting Phases 1 and 2 of the Sokoto—Tambuwal—Jega—Kontagora—Makera Road, linking Sokoto and Kebbi States, on Thursday November 25, 2021, handed over by the Honorable Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, SAN.

BENUE/CROSS RIVER: Vandeikya—Obudu Cattle Ranch Road (Phases 1 and 2), connecting Benue and Cross River States, handed over by the Hon. Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Senator George Akume, on Monday November 29, 2021.

EBONYI/ENUGU: Nenwe—Uduma Road (Sections 1 and 2), with Spur to Ishiagu, connecting Enugu and Ebonyi States, handed over by the Hon. Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, on Thursday December 2, 2021.

Also completed and ready for Commissioning are Section 2 (Shuwarin—Azare; connecting Jigawa and Bauchi States) and Section 3 (Azare—Potiskum, connecting Bauchi and Yobe States) of the Kano—Maiduguri Road.

There are several more roads ahead in the weeks and months ahead, which we will be formally handing-over, in this Season of Completion.

These completed roads will open up communities, reduce travel time, make it easier and faster for agricultural produce to get to the markets, and contribute to our job creation agenda and our vision of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty within ten years.

Let me make it clear that NO part of Nigeria has been left out of this Transport Infrastructure Revolution. Under the SUKUK financing, there are 44 road projects, from across ALL SIX GEO-POLITICAL ZONES of the country. We have ensured that the proceeds from the SUKUK have been distributed equally across each geo-political zone.

I urge all commuters and users of these roads to ensure full compliance with the Highway Code, and to refrain from all forms of road abuse.

As we enter our final full year as an administration, Nigerians should look forward to the delivery of many of the transformational projects that we embarked upon as part of our “Change” and “Next Level” Agendas.

You elected us to serve you, and we will continue to serve faithfully and diligently until the end of our administration.

God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

A SUKUK is an Islamic financial certificate, similar to a bond in Western finance, that complies with Islamic religious law. The issuer must also make a contractual promise to buy back the bond at a future date at par value.