President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, yesterday, said Nigeria’s plan to secure a $5 billion loan from the United Arab Emirates, has been stalled by the ongoing conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran, forcing the federal government to seek alternative funding to sustain critical infrastructure projects.

Akpabio disclosed this during plenary, as the Senate considered and approved President Bola Tinubu’s $516.3 million loan request for the construction of the Sokoto–Badagry Superhighway.

Akpabio said the geopolitical tensions in the Middle East had disrupted federal government’s borrowing arrangement with Abu Dhabi Bank, making it imperative to urgently source funds elsewhere to prevent ongoing projects from being abandoned.

He noted that the Senate’s swift approval of the $516 million facility was driven by the need to keep strategic national projects on track.

Earlier, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions, Senator Adetokunbo Abiru, also highlighted the challenges encountered by the Tinubu administration in securing the planned $5 billion facility from the UAE.

Tinubu, had in March, written to the Senate seeking approval to borrow the $5 billion to finance the 2026 budget deficit and support other critical obligations.

However, with the delay in accessing the UAE funds, the federal government pivoted to Deutsche Bank, securing a $516.3 million syndicated loan for the Sokoto–Badagry Superhighway project.

The Senate subsequently approved the facility following the adoption of the report of its Committee on Local and Foreign Debts, chaired by Senator Aliyu Wamakko.

The loan, backed by a partial risk guarantee from the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC), an arm of the Islamic Development Bank, was part of a broader financing strategy to drive infrastructure development.

Tinubu, in his communication to the Senate, stated that the federal government would provide N265.5 billion as counterpart funding for land acquisition, compensation, and ancillary infrastructure.

He explained that the highway project, spanning about 1,000 kilometres from Illela in Sokoto State to Badagry in Lagos State, was designed to link seven states and open up the northwest–southwest economic corridor.

According to the president, the project was expected to enhance connectivity, reduce logistics costs, improve road safety, facilitate trade, and strengthen food security, while also promoting national integration.

Senators, including Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin and Chief Whip Mohammed Monguno, commended the administration for pursuing what they described as a strategic intervention to drive economic growth despite prevailing global uncertainties. (THISDAY)