FG’s infrastructure spending hits N6.47tn, highways dominate
August 24, 2026 2:23 am
File photo: The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele.
The Federal Government spent N6.47 trillion on strategic infrastructure development between June 2023 and December 2025, with major highway projects accounting for more than half of the expenditure.
An analysis of the newly released Federal Government’s Nigeria Reform Scorecard on savings from fuel subsidy, titled “The Benefits, Costs and Harm Prevented,” on Sunday showed that the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway received the highest allocation among selected strategic infrastructure projects, with N2.23tn disbursed to fund its construction.
The Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway followed with N1.11tn, while N489.3bn was paid for the Trans-Sahara Superhighway. Checks showed that the three highway projects alone accounted for about N3.83tn of the N6.47tn infrastructure spending captured in the government’s reform scorecard.
The report covered the period between June 2023 and December 2025 and detailed how the Federal Government deployed additional fiscal resources generated or made available during the period of its economic reforms.
According to the scorecard, the government recorded an incremental expenditure of N30.64tn, with strategic infrastructure development accounting for N6.47tn.
On Wednesday, the Federal Government revealed it spent N30.64tn as government expenditure to ease the effect of petrol subsidy and other sweeping economic reforms, while the policies generated N15.8tn in savings for the Federation.
The development came as the Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, disclosed that the removal of petrol subsidy and the unification of the foreign exchange market mobilised N15.8tn in additional resources for the Federation during the period.
Oyedele said, “Between June 2023 and December 2025, subsidy savings mobilised a sum of N15.8tn in resources for the Federation. Many people will say, ‘Where is the subsidy saving?’ As a matter of fact, there wasn’t any line in the Federation Account with the description, ‘subsidy savings.’
“So, the subsidy savings showed up in the form of higher collection by Customs because, for every one dollar of import duty before, at N460, it became one dollar at N1,004, N1,003, N1,005. The NRS, Petroleum Profit Tax that it collected before, same dollar, higher amount in naira. So, the savings showed up in the Federation accounts by way of higher revenue collections as a result of the reforms.”
A further analysis of the documents showed that the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, one of the four legacy road projects of the current administration, received N2.23tn, accounting for about 34 per cent of the total N6.47tn spent on strategic infrastructure during the period.
The Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway followed with N1.11tn, while N489.3bn was paid for the Trans-Sahara Superhighway. Other major payments included N366bn for road emergency intervention projects and N304.2bn for the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano Road, Section II.
The Federal Government also spent N291.3bn on the Lekki Deep Sea Port Access Road, N250bn on the Renewed Hope Smallholder Support programme and N228.4bn on the Ilesha-Akure-Benin road section.
The scorecard further listed N124.7bn for the construction of 1,550 housing units for Nigerian Armed Forces personnel and N109.9bn for Operation Lake Sanity, a multinational security operation.
The Ministry of Finance, in the scorecard, stated that the infrastructure interventions were aimed at addressing long-standing constraints to investment and economic growth.
“The objective is to use improved fiscal capacity to address infrastructure constraints that limit investment, productivity and economic growth,” the report stated.
The spending comes as the Federal Government pushes ahead with major road and transport infrastructure projects despite mounting pressure from rising debt service obligations, wage adjustments and other recurrent expenditure.
The Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, one of the flagship infrastructure projects of the current administration, is expected to run along Nigeria’s southern coastline and connect nine states when completed.
The 47.47km first section in Lagos had been substantially completed, while work was also ongoing on a 28km dual carriageway in Ogun, a 52km stretch in Ondo, 27km in Calabar and major sections in Akwa Ibom. While the initial 47km sections in Calabar and Akwa Ibom were more than 60 per cent completed, foundation works continued on the Ondo corridor and concrete pavement was being laid on the Ogun section.
The project has, however, attracted public debate over its cost, financing structure and the speed at which government payments have risen. The N2.23tn payment recorded in the scorecard is significant because it exceeds the amount allocated to several other major infrastructure and intervention projects combined.
For instance, the spending on the Lagos-Calabar Highway was more than twice the N1.11tn paid for the Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway and over four times the N489.3bn recorded for the Trans-Sahara Superhighway.
The infrastructure expenditure formed part of the broader N30.64tn increase in Federal Government spending during the 30-month period under review.
Apart from strategic infrastructure, the largest component of the additional expenditure was wage adjustments, which gulped N9.39tn.
The impact of foreign exchange movements on external debt service accounted for another N9.37tn, highlighting the pressure that the depreciation of the naira placed on the country’s public finances, while N1.24tn was attributed to the impact of monetary policy decisions on domestic debt service.
Social welfare transfers accounted for N424bn, while N419bn went to the FCT, Ecological Fund and Natural Resources-related interventions. The higher naira cost of foreign obligations accounted for another N201bn.
The scorecard also put incremental borrowing during the period at N11.85tn, revealing the growing pressure on the Federal Government’s finances.
While N6.47tn was directed towards strategic infrastructure, the government spent significantly more dealing with wage adjustments and the foreign exchange impact on external debt.
The N9.39tn additional expenditure on wage adjustments was N2.92tn higher than infrastructure spending, representing a difference of about 45.1 per cent.
Similarly, the N9.37tn attributed to the foreign exchange impact on external debt service exceeded infrastructure spending by N2.90tn, or 44.8 per cent.
Together, wage adjustments and the foreign exchange impact on external debt service consumed N18.76tn, representing about 61.2 per cent of the total N30.64tn incremental expenditure.
Damilola Aina is a journalist at Punch Newspapers with over five years of experience covering energy, business, investment, infrastructure, and property sectors. He specializes in producing well-researched and insightful reports that inform readers and provide clarity on complex topics. Damilola’s work demonstrates practical newsroom experience, editorial insight, and a strong commitment to accurate and engaging journalism.
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