The federal government has released the proceeds of the N100 billion Sukuk bond to 25 key economic road projects of the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing across the country.
The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, on Thursday in Abuja, handed over the N100 billion proceeds cheque to the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola.
The federal government had issued the debut Sovereign Sukuk of N100 billion in September 2017, which was successfully completed last week. The Sukuk bond has a tenor of seven years.
Mrs. Adeosun, who disclosed that the offer was oversubscribed to the tune of N105.87 billion, said the milestone was a sign of confidence on the Nigerian economy and the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
She added that the Sukuk proceeds would unlock the potentials of Nigeria.
“This is the first Sukuk bond issuance for Nigeria. It is about financial inclusion and deepening of our financial markets.
“The proceeds will be used to further support government capital spending for 2017 – the construction and rehabilitation of 25 key economic roads across the six geo-political zones of the country.
“The roads will ease commuting, spur economic activities across the country and further close our infrastructural gap,” the minister stated.
The North-central and South-south zones accounted for five each of the 25 key economic road projects, while the North-east, North-west and South-east have four road projects each.
Three projects are to receive funding from the Sovereign Sukuk proceeds in the South-west zone.
Earlier, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Fashola, commended the finance minister, the Director-General of Debt Management Office, Patience Oniha, and the financial advisers for the bond issuance for their painstaking efforts realising the milestone.
Mr. Fashola assured the ministry’s contractors that the federal government was committed to the funding of its infrastructural projects across the country.
The representative of the contractors, Mousa Nahkia, expressed the contractors’ gratitude to President Muhammadu Buhari, Mrs. Adeosun and Mr. Fashola for “working day and night to make this a reality”.
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