House committee on Works has been mandated to investigate N1.242 trillion SUKUK funds raised between 2017 and 2024 for federal road projects
The House of Representatives has directed its committee on works to conduct a forensic investigation into the allocation, expenditure, and outcomes of the N1.242 trillion SUKUK funds raised between 2017 and 2024 for federal road projects.
The committee’s mandate includes identifying instances of fund diversion, cost inflation, or contractor noncompliance in the execution of Sukuk-financed infrastructure projects.
This resolution followed a motion of urgent national importance moved by Rep. Jonathan Gaza Gbewfi (SDP Nasarawa), during Wednesday’s plenary session
As part of the investigation, the House mandated the ministry of works to provide the committee on works with detailed real-time records of all Sukuk-funded projects, including financial disbursements, project statuses, and contractor performance as at date and to be updated every quarter.
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It also mandated the committee to submit a comprehensive report to the House within 6 weeks, detailing findings, issues, and proposed remedial measures to the issues surrounding the Sukuk financing in Nigeria.
To ensure transparency, the Clerk of the House of Representatives has been directed to publish the resolution in the Journal of the National Assembly and the Federal Government Gazette, in accordance with Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
Presenting the motion, Rep. Gbewfi detailed the scale of Sukuk financing, stating that since 2017, the Federal Government, through the Debt Management Office (DMO), has raised over N1.1 trillion via six Sovereign Sukuk issuances to fund 124 federal road projects spanning 5,820 kilometers across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones.
Gbewfi stated that the most recent data from the SEC in December 2024 confirms this amount (N1.1 trillion), equivalent to approximately $657.6 million USD at current exchange rates.
“Recalls that the Sukuk financing breakdown includes N100 billion (2017), N100 billion (2018), N162.557 billion (2020), N250 billion (2021), N130 billion (2022), and N350 billion (2023), with indications from posts on various reports suggesting an additional N150 billion was issued in October 2023, pushing the cumulative total to approximately N1.242 trillion by the end of 2024, pending official DMO confirmation for late 2024 issuances.” Rep. Gbewfi disclosed
Despite the substantial funding, Rep. Gbewfi expressed concern that Nigeria’s road infrastructure remains in a deplorable state. Citing a January 2024 report by S&P Global Ratings, he noted that over 70 percent of the country’s 200,000-kilometer road network remains unpaved.
He warned that without strong accountability mechanisms, the Sukuk programme risks becoming a conduit for financial mismanagement and corruption.
Roads rehabilitation and construction under SUKUK
In the debut Sovereign SUKUK in 2017, N100 billion was raised to finance the rehabilitation and construction of 25 road projects across the six geopolitical zones.
The 25 projects funded from the debut SUKUK include the dualisation of Lokoja-Benin Road, Abuja-Abaji-Lokoja Road Sections One, Three and Four, the construction of Oju-Loko-Oweto Bridge over River Benue and the dualisation of Suleja-Minna Road in Niger State, all in the North-Central.
The North-East had four projects namely the dualisation of Kano – Maiduguri Road Sections Two, Three, Four and Five.
Similarly, the North-West had four projects namely the dualisation of Kano-Katsina Road Phase One, and the construction of Kano Western Bypass and Kaduna Eastern Bypass Road.
Four projects benefitted from the funds in South-East namely the rehabilitation of Enugu-Port Harcourt dual carriageway Section Two, Onitsha to Enugu Expressway, Enugu to Port Harcourt dual carriageway Sections One and Three.
For the South-South, five projects were funded including dualisation of Yenagoa-Kolo; Otuoke-Bayelsa Palm Road and rehabilitation of Enugu to Port Harcourt Road Section Four.
Three projects were financed in the South-West namely the reconstruction and asphalt overlay of Benin to Ofosu to Ore to Ajebandele to Shagamu dual carriageway Phases Three and Four, and completion of the dualisation of Ibadan-Ilorin Road Section Two.
One comment
Aladeokomo Babatunde Sunday
March 27, 2025 at 8:47 am
Probing this is a good one but it is somewhat counterproductive to leave overnight during disbursement of funds and project implementation stages only to come and set up a committee years later to probe how the money spent was managed.
Honestly the national Assembly have to do more in its oversight duty