By Annette Ikponmwonba | August 24, 2026
Key Points
- The Federal Government spent N6.47 trillion on strategic infrastructure between June 2023 and December 2025.
- Major highway projects accounted for more than half of the infrastructure expenditure.
- The Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway received the largest allocation at N2.23 trillion.
- The Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway received N1.11 trillion, while the Trans-Sahara Superhighway received N489.3 billion.
- The three projects accounted for approximately N3.83 trillion, or nearly 60 per cent of strategic infrastructure spending captured in the reform scorecard.
- Overall incremental Federal Government expenditure reached N30.64 trillion during the period.
- Subsidy and foreign exchange reforms generated N15.8 trillion in additional resources for the Federation.
- Wage adjustments and the foreign exchange impact on external debt service jointly accounted for N18.76 trillion of incremental expenditure.
Main Story
The Federal Government spent N6.47 trillion on strategic infrastructure development between June 2023 and December 2025, with major highway projects accounting for the largest share of the expenditure, An analysis of the Federal Government’s newly released Nigeria Reform Scorecard on savings from fuel subsidy removal showed that the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway received the highest allocation among the strategic infrastructure projects listed.
The project received N2.23 trillion, representing about 34 per cent of the total N6.47 trillion spent on strategic infrastructure during the period, The Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway followed with N1.11 trillion, while N489.3 billion was paid for the Trans-Sahara Superhighway, Together, the three highway projects accounted for approximately N3.83 trillion of strategic infrastructure expenditure.
Other major infrastructure and intervention spending included N366 billion for road emergency intervention projects, N304.2 billion for the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano Road Section II and N291.3 billion for the Lekki Deep Sea Port Access Road, The government also spent N250 billion on the Renewed Hope Smallholder Support Programme and N228.4 billion on the Ilesha-Akure-Benin road section.
Other allocations included N124.7 billion for 1,550 housing units for Nigerian Armed Forces personnel and N109.9 billion for Operation Lake Sanity, a multinational security operation, The infrastructure expenditure formed part of a broader N30.64 trillion increase in government expenditure during the 30-month period.
The Issues
The scale of infrastructure spending comes amid significant pressure on the Federal Government’s finances, While N6.47 trillion was allocated to strategic infrastructure, the government also faced substantial expenditure increases linked to wages, external debt service and monetary policy.
Wage adjustments accounted for N9.39 trillion, while the foreign exchange impact on external debt service amounted to N9.37 trillion, Combined, the two areas consumed N18.76 trillion, representing approximately 61.2 per cent of the total N30.64 trillion incremental expenditure.
The figures highlight the competing demands on government finances. Infrastructure investment is intended to address long-standing constraints to economic growth, but the government must simultaneously meet rising recurrent costs and debt-service obligations.
The Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway has also attracted public debate over its cost, financing structure and the pace of government payments, The N2.23 trillion recorded for the project is more than twice the N1.11 trillion allocated to the Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway and more than four times the N489.3 billion recorded for the Trans-Sahara Superhighway, Another issue is borrowing. The reform scorecard put incremental borrowing during the period at N11.85 trillion, further underscoring the pressure on public finances.
What’s Being Said
Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, said the removal of petrol subsidy and the unification of the foreign exchange market mobilised N15.8 trillion in additional resources for the Federation between June 2023 and December 2025, Oyedele explained that the savings did not appear as a separate item labelled “subsidy savings” in the Federation Account.
Instead, he said the benefits appeared through increased naira collections from areas such as Customs duties and petroleum-related taxes because of the higher naira value of foreign-denominated transactions, The Ministry of Finance said the strategic infrastructure interventions were designed to address infrastructure constraints that have historically limited investment, productivity and economic growth, The government has therefore positioned the expenditure as part of its broader economic reform strategy, using additional fiscal resources to finance infrastructure and other interventions.
What’s Next
The focus will increasingly shift from the amount spent on infrastructure to the economic returns generated by those investments, For the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and other major road projects, completion, quality of construction and the ability to improve transportation and commercial activity will be key measures of their value to the economy.
The Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway is expected to run along Nigeria’s southern coastline and connect nine states when completed, Work has progressed on different sections, including the 47.47-kilometre first section in Lagos, while construction has also been ongoing across Ogun, Ondo, Akwa Ibom and Cross River.
The Federal Government will also have to balance continued infrastructure investment against rising debt-service obligations, wage costs and other recurrent expenditure, With incremental borrowing reaching N11.85 trillion during the period, future infrastructure spending will likely face increasing scrutiny over financing, value for money and its impact on economic growth.
Bottom Line
The Federal Government’s N6.47 trillion strategic infrastructure expenditure between June 2023 and December 2025 demonstrates the administration’s emphasis on roads and major infrastructure as tools for economic growth, However, the figures also reveal the scale of competing fiscal pressures, The government spent N30.64 trillion in incremental expenditure during the period, while wage adjustments and the foreign exchange impact on external debt service alone consumed N18.76 trillion.
The challenge now is to ensure that the N6.47 trillion invested in infrastructure produces measurable economic returns through better connectivity, lower logistics costs, increased productivity and stronger investment, For the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway in particular, its N2.23 trillion expenditure places the project under significant public and economic scrutiny. Its eventual impact will ultimately be judged not by the size of the allocation, but by whether the completed infrastructure delivers lasting value to Nigeria’s economy.
