President Bola Tinubu has asked the National Assembly to approve a $516.3 million foreign loan to finance key sections of the Sokoto–Badagry Superhighway project.
The request, conveyed in a letter read during plenary by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, seeks legislative backing in line with Sections 16 and 21 of the Debt Management Office Establishment Act, 2011.
According to the President, the approval will enable the Federal Government to access a syndicated loan facility from Deutsche Bank to fund Sections 1, 1A, and 1B of the highway project.
He noted that the borrowing plan had already been incorporated into the government’s approved financing framework.
Tinubu described the Sokoto–Badagry Superhighway as a flagship project under his Renewed Hope Agenda, aimed at transforming Nigeria’s economic landscape.
The proposed 1,000-kilometre highway will connect key states across the northwest and southwest, running from Illela in Sokoto State to Badagry in Lagos State.
He explained that the project is expected to boost connectivity between regions, improve road safety, reduce travel time and logistics costs, and strengthen economic integration by linking production hubs to markets and ports.
The financing package includes a syndicated loan backed by a partial risk guarantee from the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit.
Counterpart funding
Meanwhile, the Federal Government will provide counterpart funding of ₦265.5 billion to cover land acquisition, compensation, and related infrastructure.
The loan is structured over a nine-year period, including a grace period of up to three years, with an interest rate capped at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange rate plus 5.3 percent annually.
Lawmakers largely welcomed the proposal, describing the highway as a long-awaited transformative project that has been in discussion for decades.
The Senate subsequently referred the request to its Committee on Local and Foreign Debts for further review, with a mandate to report back within one week.
Akpabio urged the committee to fast-track its work to ensure timely consideration and approval of the funding request.
