The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, says the Federal Government has earmarked 1.3 billion dollars to fund five critical projects across the country.
Mohammed said this on Tuesday in Abuja when he appeared on the News Agency of Nigeria flagship programme, NAN Forum.
He said the projects would be funded under the Presidential Infrastructure Fund to be managed by the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority.
The minister said that PIF with seed fund of 1.3 billion dollars would be used to ensure that the five critical projects that had hitherto suffered funding would be adequately funded.
He said the projects were. the Lagos-Ibadan Express Way, Abuja-Kano Road, the East-West Road, the Mambila Power Project and the Second Niger Bridge.
The minister said, “as we speak today, the fund for early works on the Mambila project is assured and for the other four projects, we are sure of meeting up with their completion deadlines’’.
Mohammed said: “When we came into power in 2015, the total debt profile of the country was 53 billion dollar, we have only borrowed 10 billion dollar extra.
“When compared with between 2010 and 2015, the previous administration had a higher debt profile.
“In 2010, Nigeria was only owing N35 billion but by 2015, the debt profile had risen to N53 billion.
“This means that in five years, the previous administration borrowed N28 billion, while in three and half years we borrowed N10 billion.”
The minister also said the funds borrowed by the administration were spent on developing the nation’s infrastructure unlike the previous administration that could not account for it. (NAN)
