Capital portion of 2017 budget got a boost on Thursday, when Finance minister, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun handed over proceeds of the N100 billion Sukuk bond to her Power, Works and Housing counterpart, Babatunde Fasola for the construction of 25 key economic road projects.
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.
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.
Each of the geo-political zones of the country is expected to receive the sum of N16.67 billion for road projects in their respective zones.
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.
Fashola had earlier commended Adeosun, the Director-General of Debt Management Office, Ms. Patience Oniha and the financial advisers for the bond issuance for their painstaking efforts realising the milestone.
He assured the ministry’s contractors that government was committed to the funding of its infrastructural projects across the country.
A representative of the contractors, Mousa Nahkia, expressed gratitude to President Muhammadu Buhari, Adeosun and Fashola for “working day and night to make this a reality”.
“Nobody can hide our smiles today, we believe in this country and its economy. This is really a great development and accomplishment We really want to thank President Muhammadu Buhari, the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun and the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, for increasing our confidence in this country and the Federal Government,” stated Nahkia, who is the Managing Director of RCC Construction Company.
