DMO Presents N130bn Sukuk Cheque To FCT, Works Ministry

The Debt Management Office has on Monday presented cheques of N130 billion being Proceeds of the 2022 Sovereign Sukuk offer to the implementing ministries.

The implementing ministries were the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing (FMWH) and the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA).

Mrs Zainab Ahmed, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, presented the cheques at a ceremony which was held in her office in Abuja.

According to Ahmed, the issuance of sovereign sukuk, a project-tied debt instrument, is one of the many innovative and very successful initiatives of the present administration.

Ahmed said it was aimed toward financing development of critical infrastructure.

She said that the facts on how much the initiative had helped to improve road infrastructure across the country were glaring.

“As at date, this administration has invested the sum of N612.557 billion raised through Sovereign Sukuk between 2017 and 2021 for the construction and rehabilitation of key economic road projects.

“The projects are in the six geo-political zones and the FCT.

“In real terms, the amount has been used to construct and rehabilitate sections of 71 road projects covering 2,808 kilometers and four bridges by the FMWH.

“It has also aided the construction of sections of six road projects covering 99 kilometers and 19 bridges by the FCTA,” she said.

The minister said that FMWH and FCTA would be sharing N130 billion, being proceeds of 2022 Sukuk issue proceeds which was successfully issued by the DMO on behalf of the Federal Government.

She said that the release would form part of the 2022 budget, which implementation had been extended to March by the National Assembly

“FMWH will get N110 billion and the FCTA will get N20 billion.

“The N130 billion will be released as part of the capital expenditure in the 2022 Appropriation Act, which has been extended by the National Assembly to March 31.

“As at November 2022, N1.88 trillion had been released as Capital Expenditure, which represents about 40 per cent performance when compared to the total Capital Budget of N4.7 trillion.

This informed the need to extend the period to implement the capital component of the 2022 Budget,” she said.

According to her, beside the immense contributions of Sukuk to the funding of critical road infrastructure, the objectives of deepening the domestic capital market and financial inclusion are being achieved by the government.