Govt invested N100b to reconstruct 25 arterial roads, says Fashola

• To reintroduce toll-gates soon • Disbursed N6.6b for school feeding programme

THE Federal Government says it has invested N100 billion in Sukuk bond for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of roads nationwide.

Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, who disclosed this yesterday while addressing members of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) who paid him a courtesy call, said the government would involve in reconstructing and rehabilitating 25 arterial roads with an aggressive plan to spend about N16.7 billion for each geo-political zone across the country.

He said the fund, which is a safe and low-risk investment, is a Debt Management Office (DMO) Sovereign Sukuk (bond) with a sevenyear tenor to the tune of N100 billion.

He also disclosed that the Federal Government plans to re-introduce the tolling system on completed federal highways to sustain the maintenance of these roads. President of MAN, Dr. Frank Udemba Jacobs, commended the minister for the novel idea in road financing and specifically praised him for the on-going rehabilitation of Lagos-ibadan and Onitsha-enugu expressways and other strategic roads across the country.

In another development, the Presidency has said that N6,643,432,789 billion has been disbursed by the Federal Government for the school feeding programme, which kicked off late last year.

A statement by Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity in the office of the Vice President, Laolu Akande, yesterday, said over 19,000 schools had so far been covered under the programme.

He said 2,918,842 school children from 19,881 schools in the 14 pilot states of the federation had so far benefited from the school feeding programme, which is part of the government’s N500 billion Social Investment Programmes (SIPS).