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President Bola Tinubu has formally asked the Senate to approve a fresh external loan of $516.3 million to finance key sections of the proposed Sokoto–Badagry Superhighway, a major infrastructure project under his administration’s economic agenda.
The request was conveyed in a letter read during plenary by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, marking the start of legislative consideration of the borrowing plan.
According to details contained in the correspondence, the loan is expected to be sourced through a syndicated financing arrangement led by Deutsche Bank and will fund Sections 1, 1A and 1B of the highway project.
The Sokoto–Badagry Superhighway, estimated at about 1,000 kilometres, is designed to connect Nigeria’s North-West to the South-West, passing through states including Sokoto, Kebbi, Niger, Kwara, Oyo, Ogun and Lagos.
Tinubu described the project as a flagship initiative under his “Renewed Hope Agenda”, aimed at improving national connectivity, reducing travel time, and strengthening trade corridors across the country.
The President noted that the proposed facility has a tenure of nine years, including a grace period of up to three years, with interest benchmarked at the Secured Overnight Financing Rate plus 5.3 per cent.
In addition to the external loan, the Federal Government is expected to provide counterpart funding running into hundreds of billions of naira to cover land acquisition, compensation and supporting infrastructure.
The Senate has since referred the request to its Committee on Local and Foreign Debts for detailed review, with lawmakers expected to report back within a short timeframe.
The latest borrowing request comes amid a broader pattern of external financing by the Tinubu administration.
In March 2026, the National Assembly approved fresh external loans totalling $6 billion to support infrastructure development and fiscal liquidity.
The Sokoto–Badagry corridor is widely viewed as strategically significant, with government projections suggesting it could cut travel time between northern and southern Nigeria, improve logistics efficiency, and unlock new economic opportunities across multiple states.
However, the proposal is likely to renew debate over Nigeria’s reliance on external borrowing, especially as debt servicing continues to consume a substantial share of government revenue, a trend repeatedly flagged in recent economic analyses.
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