The Federal Government is set to draw $1.3 billion (about N468 billion) from the National Sovereign Investment Fund NSIF) to fund five critical infrastructure projects nationwide.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who gave this on Sunday when he appeared as guest on a Nigerian Television Authority programme – ‘Stepping Up’ – listed the projects as including, the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway construction, the 2nd Niger bridge and the East-West road construction.
Others are, the Abuja-Kano Expressway construction and the Mambilla power project.
The minister restated the President Buhari-led administration’s commitment to infrastructure development across the country and reassured the public of the government’s readiness to revive and complete all abandoned projects inherited from previous administration.
Mohammed explained: “We believed that rather than starting new projects, it will benefit Nigerians to complete all inherited abandoned projects.
“To appreciate the commitment of the administration to infrastructure, in 2014, Nigeria spent N14bn on transportation, N34bn on water resources and agriculture and N106bn on power, works and housing.
“In 2017, this administration spent N107bn on transportation, N130bn on agriculture and water resources and N325bn on power, works and housing. The administration, in a manner unprecedented in the history of the country, spent a total of N2.7tn on capital projects in 2016 and 2017 alone”, the minister added.
Speaking further on other projects being executed by the government, he listed the Oyo-Ogbomosho Expressway, the 240km Enugu-Port Harcourt road among the numerous ongoing projects, adding that the Ilorin-Jebba-Mokwa road, which had been abandoned for over about a decade, has been completed.
Mohammed identified the 69 ongoing projects in the South-East region, adding that the administration was worried by the unfounded allegation that the region was abandoned in infrastructure development.
On rail projects, Mohammed said the 156km Lagos -Ibadan standard gauge was ongoing just as
the government signed an agreement in April this year with a consortium led by General Electric to revamp the 3,500 km narrow gauge between Lagos and Kano.
He recalled also the 49.2 km Abuja light rail project which was recently inaugurated by the President.
The minister explained further: “When we came in, the light rail project was 53.8 per cent completed. Within 18 months, we were able to complete it 100 per cent. This is the first integrated rail transportation mode in Africa that allows transportation by rail from the city to the airport to go by air.
“It is being run by two coaches now and the government has placed order for 48 more coaches to cover the entire Abuja”, he added.
