IslamicFinance.de

To confute speculations about the N100 billion Sukuk, the Nigerian government said the money was intact in the appropriate account opened for it at the Central Bank of Nigeria. The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, earlier said the fund will be used to finance the construction of 25 key road projects across the county’s six geo-political zones. She said each of the zones was to benefit about N16.67 billion for road projects in their respective domains. After a month no money has been disbursed to contractors to start the construction works, which fuelled speculation that the money may have been diverted by the government. Director of the Debt Management Office, Patience Oniha, said the Sukuk was not available to government for general spending purposes, but went directly into the account opened for it. Although she did not say the exact time the process for the disbursement will be completed, she assured that once the contractors fulfil the requirements, the disbursement of the money would commence.