President Muhammadu Buhari has promised additional 2,000 kilometres of roads and bridges to be constructed under the Road Infrastructure Tax Credit Scheme.
The president disclosed this when he presented the 2023 budget proposal of N20.5 trillion at the joint session of the National Assembly (NASS), on Friday in Abuja.
He said: “We are undertaking the construction and rehabilitation of about 2,000 kilometres of roads and bridges, nationwide, to be financed by the grant of tax credits to investing private companies.’’
The president said that his administration had made appreciable progress in the rehabilitation and reconstruction of key road networks across the country.
He cited the Lagos – Ibadan expressway, Abuja-Kaduna-Kano expressway and East-West Road in Niger Delta as some of the completed road projects.
According to him, work has also reached completion stage on the Apapa – Oworonsoki expressway, Loko-Oweto Bridge and the Second Niger Bridge.
Buhari expressed optimism that the affected road projects would be inaugurated before the end of his tenure in May 2023.
“Furthermore, we have awarded several contracts to rehabilitate, reconstruct and construct major arterial roads to reduce the hardship to commuters and increase economic activity,’’ he added.
The president recalled since the adoption of Sukuk Bonds scheme in 2017,over N600 billion has been raised and invested in 914km for over 40 critical road projects nationwide.
In railways, President Buhari said the 156km Lagos-Ibadan Standard Gauge Rail(and it’s 8.72km extension to o Lagos Port),186km Abuja-Kaduna Standard Gauge Rail and 327km Itakpe-Warri Standard Gauge Rail have been completed by his administration adding that these projects compliment the ongoing investments in Light Rail, Narrow and Standard Gauge Rail, Ancillary Facilities Yards and other basic amenities their in.
The 4th president since the return of Democracy in 1999, further stressed that his administration has completed New Airport Terminals at Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt and reconstructed the Abuja Airport Runaway in it’s first overhaul since it’s construction in the early 1980s.
The president added that other investments in airport safety facilities, aeronautical meteorological services delivery complement the ongoing development of seaports and ancillary infrastructure at the Lekki Deep Sea Port, Bonny Deep Sea Port,Onitsha River Port, as well as the Kaduna,Kano and Katsina inland Dry Ports to create a truly multimodal transport system.