President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has asked the Senate to approve a fresh $516 million loan to support work on the Sokoto–Badagry Superhighway.
In a letter to Senate President Godswill Akpabio, read during plenary on Thursday, Tinubu explained that the project is a major infrastructure push aimed at connecting Nigeria’s Northwest to the Southwest.
The planned 1,000km highway will stretch from Illela in Sokoto State, passing through Kebbi, Niger, Kwara, Oyo, and Ogun states, before ending in Badagry, Lagos.
The loan will specifically fund Sections 1, Phase 1a and 1b about 120km of the total route.
According to the proposal, the funding will come as a syndicated loan arranged through Deutsche Bank AG, with backing from the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit, part of the Islamic Development Bank Group.
The federal government will also contribute its own share about ₦265.5 billion to cover land acquisition, compensation, and related infrastructure.
Tinubu said the loan would run for nine years, including a grace period of up to three years, with interest tied to the CME SOFR benchmark plus 5.3%.
He noted that the Federal Executive Council has already approved the financing plan and asked lawmakers to include it in Nigeria’s borrowing framework.
The president argued that the highway would ease movement across regions, cut transport costs, improve safety, and boost trade by linking production areas to markets and ports.
There are also plans to reserve space along the road for future rail lines and utility infrastructure.
After the letter was read, Akpabio referred the request to the Senate Committee on Foreign and Local Debts, which is expected to report back within a week.
Speaking in support of the project, Senator Mohammed Adamu Aliero said the highway has been in the works for decades and praised the progress already made.
He added that once completed, travel time from Sokoto to Lagos could drop by more than 70% from about 13 hours to roughly six.
