TheCable

The federal government says the Agbara-Seme border section of the Lagos-Badagry expressway project will receive N15 billion of the NNPC tax credit fund.

Olukayode Popoola, federal controller of works Lagos, disclosed this on Sunday in an interview with NAN.

According to Popoola, the intervention fund will fast-track the ongoing reconstruction of the road.

“NNPC fund that is coming is about N15 billion. It will be used for the section where CGC is working between Agbara to Seme border,” he was quoted as saying.

“The contractor never moved out of site. They are on site and are working as we speak.”

He, however, could not confirm whether the N15 billion NNPC tax credit fund had been released, adding that the issues are handled by the accountants.

Popoola also said the last Sukuk fund allocated to the project was still running, adding that the project was progressing and close to 20 percent completion.

Sukuk is an Islamic liquidity management instrument used by governments and corporations to finance big projects, and since its establishment in Nigeria in 2017, the Debt Management Office (DMO) has issued three Sovereign Sukuk — 2017, 2018, and 2020.

According to him, about 14 kilometres of drainage works had been done and six kilometres of the main carriageway completed to the final layers.

He further noted that alternative sources of funding, including the Sukuk and NNPC tax credit scheme, were deployed by the federal government to resolve funding constraints on the project, assuring that the rate of progress will increase by 2022.

In October, the federal executive council (FEC) approved the reconstruction of 21 federal roads — including the Lagos-Badagry expressway — by the newly incorporated Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited under the tax credit scheme initiative.