From Victor Osula, Abuja
President Bola Tinubu has again requested the approval of the Senate for a fresh external borrowing of $516,333,070, a move aimed at accelerating the delivery of the ambitious Sokoto–Badagry Super Highway project.
The request was conveyed in a letter addressed to the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, and read during plenary on Thursday.
In the correspondence, President Tinubu explained that the proposed loan facility, to be sourced from Deutsche Bank, is part of the already approved external borrowing framework for the highway project.
According to the President, the funds will specifically support the execution of the Sokoto–Badagry 1,000-kilometre Super Highway, a strategic transport corridor expected to link Nigeria’s North-Western and South-Western regions. The project is widely seen as a critical driver of national development, with the potential to significantly reduce travel time, enhance trade flows, and stimulate investment along the route.
Tinubu, in the letter, underscored the urgency of securing legislative approval, urging the Senate to grant expeditious consideration to the request in order to maintain project timelines and cost efficiency. He noted that timely access to the facility would enable contractors to sustain momentum and avoid delays that could escalate costs.
In a swift legislative response, Senate President Akpabio referred the request to the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts for detailed consideration. The committee has been mandated to review the proposal and report back to the chamber within one week, reflecting the upper chamber’s commitment to fast-tracking critical national projects.
The Sokoto–Badagry Super Highway is a cornerstone of the Tinubu administration’s broader infrastructure renewal agenda, which prioritises the development of modern transport networks to unlock economic potential across regions. Once completed, the highway is expected to serve as a major logistics artery, connecting agricultural hubs in the North to commercial centres and ports in the South-West, thereby boosting supply chains and reducing post-harvest losses.
The involvement of Deutsche Bank further underscores growing international confidence in Nigeria’s infrastructure financing framework, as the country continues to leverage strategic partnerships to fund large-scale development projects. The administration has consistently emphasised that such borrowings are tied to capital projects with measurable economic returns, aligning with its goal of ensuring sustainable debt utilisation.
