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N221bn disbursed to road contractors, says Works ministry

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The Federal Ministry of Works and Housing says N221bn has been disbursed to contractors as costs for the construction of 71 road projects completed in various parts of the country under the 2021 SUKUK bond funds.

This was as it refuted allegations by some aggrieved contractors in an online publication that funds allocated to projects in the 2022 SUKUK fund were being delayed and placed into bank accounts “To embezzle accrued interest.”

The rebuttal was issued in a statement titled, “For The Records. Re: Allegation On: “N130bn 2022 SUKUK Fund: Road Contractors Petition Efcc Over Non-payment Of Approved Funds Allocated To Them By Ministry Of Works Staff” and signed by the Director overseeing the office of Permanent Secretary, Folorunsho Esan, on Wednesday.

The ministry insisted that it completed the disbursement for the payment of executed contracts in the 2021 SUKUK funding adding that the payment ended in April 2022 and a total of N221bn was paid.

Esan stressed that payments for both years (2021 and 2022) could not be made concurrently as a matter of principle.

Describing the allegations as a blatant misrepresentation of facts and a calculated attempt to smear the name of the Ministry, the Director said it is unfounded to imagine that any portion of the 2022 SUKUK Fund is warehoused in any bank with the expectation of yielding interest for any pecuniary benefits to officials in the ministry.

As a point of clarification, he noted that the ministry has been using the Sukuk model for project financing since 2017 and at no time held funds for project payments.

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