Tinubu Seeks Senate Approval for Fresh $516.3m Loan for Sokoto–Badagry Highway

President Bola Tinubu has written to the Senate seeking approval for a fresh $516.3 million foreign loan to fund key sections of the Sokoto–Badagry Super Highway Project. The President said the facility would be secured through syndicated financing arranged by Deutsche Bank for Section One, Phase 1A and 1B of the project, covering about 120 kilometres. 

According to the President, the request is in line with the provisions of Sections 16 and 21 of the Debt Management Office Act. He described the Sokoto–Badagry Super Highway as a flagship infrastructure project under the Renewed Hope Agenda, designed to open up Nigeria’s North–South corridor through a proposed 1,000-kilometre inland dual carriageway linking several states from the northwest to Lagos. 

Tinubu said the project is expected to improve connectivity, enhance road safety and network performance, reduce travel time and logistics costs, and boost trade, food security and national cohesion by strengthening access between production zones, markets and ports. 

Reports say the proposed financing is backed by a partial risk guarantee from ICIEC, the insurance arm of the Islamic Development Bank, alongside Federal Government counterpart funding of ₦265.5 billion and additional provisions for land acquisition, compensation and related infrastructure. The loan is structured for nine years, including a grace period of up to three years. 

The President noted that the financing arrangement had already received Federal Executive Council approval and urged the Senate to grant the request and include it in the borrowing plan. After the letter was read at plenary, Senate President Godswill Akpabio referred it to the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts, directing the panel to report back within one week.