During his State of the Nation Address, President Muhammadu Buhari assured Nigerians that the 11.9-kilometre Second Niger Bridge, the 120-kilometre Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, and other key infrastructure projects funded by the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) will be completed during his administration’s second term.
The President’s assurance comes as a result of the significant progress made in the execution of these projects, as well as the determination of the current administration to see them through to completion. At the beginning of a two-day Mid-Term Ministerial Performance Review Retreat, the President stated that the administration’s nine key priorities had been achieved. The retreat was organized to assess progress made toward the achievement of these nine key priorities.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, President Buhari, speaking at the retreat, which is the third edition since the beginning of his administration’s second term, highlighted some of the notable achievements of the federal government over the past two years.
In his statement, President Muhammadu Buhari listed his administration’s accomplishments in the areas of infrastructure, transportation, the economy, electricity supply, and the petroleum industry, among other areas.
Buhari in his statement, listed accomplishments in the areas of infrastructure, transportation, economy, electricity supply, the petroleum industry, among others.
He said, “On transportation, we are growing the stock and quality of our road, rail, air and water transport infrastructure.
‘‘The PIDF projects are also advancing remarkably. These include the 11.9km Second Niger Bridge, 120 km Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, 375 km Abuja – Kaduna – Zaria – Kano Expressway and the East-West Road. Most of these projects are expected to be completed within this 2nd term of our Administration.
‘‘Some of the notable achievements include the establishment of InfraCo Plc in 2020, as a world-class infrastructure development vehicle, wholly focused on Nigeria, with combined debt and equity take-off capital of N15 trillion, to be managed by an independent infrastructure fund manager.
‘‘The Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund was also established in 2020 with more than USD 1Billion in funding. In addition, we have launched the Nigeria Innovation Fund by the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA).
”This is aimed at addressing investment opportunities in the domestic technology sector: data networking, data centres, software, Agri-tech, Bio-tech, and more.’’
Going further, President Buhari noted that his administration had made tremendous progress on railway projects in the country, noting that upgrading of the railway network is being extended with the recent completion of the Lagos–Ibadan line.
‘‘The Itakpe-Ajaokuta rail line has finally been completed and commissioned after 30 years of its conception. Work is expected to commence very soon on the Port-Harcourt Maiduguri line and Calabar – Lagos Coastal Line to connect the Southern and Eastern States of our Country.
”Progress is also being made on the upgrading of our Airports, with the state-of-the-art facilities in line with world-class safety standards,” he said.
