By Seun Ibiyemi
The Federal Government spent N6.47tn on strategic infrastructure development between June 2023 and December 2025, with major highway projects accounting for about N3.83tn, according to its newly released Nigeria Reform Scorecard.
An analysis of the scorecard, titled “The Benefits, Costs and Harm Prevented,” showed that the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway received the largest allocation among the projects listed, with N2.23tn disbursed during the period under review.
The Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway followed with N1.11tn, while N489.3bn was spent on the Trans-Sahara Superhighway.
The three projects alone accounted for about 59 per cent of the N6.47tn allocated to strategic infrastructure under the government’s reform-related expenditure.
The scorecard showed that the Federal Government recorded incremental expenditure of N30.64tn between June 2023 and December 2025, following the implementation of major economic reforms, including petrol subsidy removal and foreign exchange market reforms.
Of the total additional expenditure, N6.47tn was channelled into strategic infrastructure projects aimed at addressing constraints to investment, productivity and economic growth.
The Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway accounted for about 34 per cent of the strategic infrastructure spending.
Other major infrastructure expenditures included N366bn for road emergency intervention projects, N304.2bn for the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano Road, Section II, and N291.3bn for the Lekki Deep Sea Port Access Road.
The government also spent N250bn on the Renewed Hope Smallholder Support programme and N228.4bn on the Ilesha-Akure-Benin road section.
Other listed interventions included 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 infrastructure expenditure formed part of the government’s broader deployment of additional fiscal resources generated or made available through its economic reforms.
Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, had said the removal of petrol subsidy and the unification of the foreign exchange market generated N15.8tn in additional resources for the Federation between June 2023 and December 2025.
Oyedele explained that the subsidy savings did not appear as a separate line item in the Federation Account but were reflected through higher revenue collections.
According to him, the naira value of dollar-denominated collections increased significantly following the exchange rate reforms, boosting revenues from Customs, the Nigeria Revenue Service and Petroleum Profit Tax.
Despite the N6.47tn infrastructure allocation, the scorecard showed that a larger portion of the additional expenditure was absorbed by wage adjustments and the impact of naira depreciation on external debt servicing.
Wage adjustments accounted for N9.39tn, while the foreign exchange impact on external debt service stood at N9.37tn.
Together, the two expenditure items consumed N18.76tn, representing about 61.2 per cent of the N30.64tn incremental expenditure during the period.
The N9.39tn spent on wage adjustments was N2.92tn, or about 45.1 per cent, higher than strategic infrastructure expenditure.
Similarly, the N9.37tn attributed to the foreign exchange impact on external debt service exceeded infrastructure spending by N2.90tn, representing about 44.8 per cent.
The government also spent N1.24tn on the impact of monetary policy decisions on domestic debt service, while social welfare transfers accounted for N424bn.
Another N419bn was allocated to FCT, Ecological Fund and Natural Resources-related interventions, while the higher naira cost of foreign obligations accounted for N201bn.
The scorecard put incremental borrowing during the period at N11.85tn, highlighting the continued pressure on Federal Government finances.
The N2.23tn allocated to the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway makes it the largest single infrastructure expenditure captured in the scorecard.
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The flagship project is planned to run along Nigeria’s southern coastline and connect nine states.
Construction has progressed across several sections, including Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Akwa Ibom and Cross River.
However, the project has attracted public debate over its cost, financing structure and the pace of government disbursements.
The N2.23tn expenditure recorded for the highway was more than twice the N1.11tn allocated to the Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway and more than four times the N489.3bn spent on the Trans-Sahara Superhighway.
The Federal Government said its strategic infrastructure spending was aimed at using improved fiscal capacity to address long-standing infrastructure constraints that have limited investment, productivity and economic growth.
