TheCable

The All Progressives Congress Legacy Awareness and Campaign (APCLAC), a group aligned with the ruling party, says President Muhammadu Buhari has allocated more resources to infrastructure than any government since 1999.

TheCable has not independently verified the claim.

While former President Olusegun Obasanjo held the highest office when the country returned to democracy in 1999, Buhari took over from ex-President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015.

Buhari is currently halfway into a second term in office.

In a statement on Monday, the group said more rail and road projects have been carried out under Buhari than in any of the previous administrations since 1999.

“From the start, President Buhari promised to complete as many abandoned projects as possible, and he has worked hard to fulfil this promise,” the group said.

“His administration has committed more resources to infrastructure than any other administration since 1999. It is no coincidence that the last time Nigeria saw an infrastructure revolution on this scale was during the period, in the late 1990s, when the president ran the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF).

“Beyond the focus on completing inherited and abandoned projects, the Buhari administration has creatively unlocked public and private sector financing for infrastructure in Nigeria, through such initiatives as the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF), the Infrastructure Company (InfraCo), the Highway Development Management Initiative (HDMI), the Sovereign Sukuk Bonds (that have collectively raised close to a billion dollars), and the Infrastructure Tax Credit Scheme.

“Between them, these initiatives cover thousands of kilometres of critical roads and will mobilise several billions of dollars in public and private financing.

“This week, the president will commission the 156km Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge rail, the first double-track standard gauge rail project in West Africa (and the first standard gauge rail project in Nigeria to be started and completed by the same administration).

“This landmark commissioning is taking place nine months after he commissioned the 327km Itakpe-Warri standard gauge rail, completed by his administration 33 years after construction began.

“The 168km Abuja-Kaduna rail project, and the 42.5km Abuja light rail project, both inherited from previous administrations, were completed in 2016 and 2018, respectively.

“The second Niger bridge, originally conceived decades ago, is now more than 50 percent completed, and scheduled for commissioning in 2022, as is the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, which has defied every administration since 1999.”

The statement was signed by Salihu Lukman, director-general of Progressives Governors Forum (PGF); Ismail Ahmed and Tolu Ogunlesi, presidential aides; as well as Lanre Issa-Onilu, former APC spokesman.