Complete and rich interview with Leadership NewspaperHe spoke on the infrastructural transformation with #KadunaUrbanRenewal ,PPPs, other projects, #COVID19 , weather effects…Enjoy the read In addition to being Chief of Staff, MUHAMMAD SANI ABDULLAHI heads the Infrastructure Development Council of Kaduna State Government. In this interview, he explained how the Malam NASIR EL-RUFAI administration is embarking on the greatest infrastructure upgrade in the history of the state.By Mustapha IkolabaKaduna State Government has embarked on a massive infrastructure upgrade that the state has never witnessed before. How many projects is the government executing at the moment? Is it not spreading its finances rather too thinly, in the face of dwindling revenue from the federation account?Indeed, this is a period of significant infrastructure expansion across the state. Each of our 27 infrastructure-related Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) are implementing projects across all the 23 local governments of the state. I hear many saying the entire state is now a construction site and this is correct; from water and power projects, markets, shopping malls, parks, schools, hospitals, public buildings, roads and bridges, the El-Rufai administration is responding to infrastructure deficits and overseeing the largest expansion of infrastructure in the history of Kaduna State. Many residents have confessed to getting lost in their own neighbourhoods due to the speed and quality of infrastructure delivery. This massive infrastructure upgrade covers various facets of socio-economic development as outlined in our Infrastructure Master Plan 2018-2050, with 3,828 individual projects where the state is directly funding 70%, while 30% is being handled in collaboration with other local and international partners.Under the Urban Renewal Programme alone, the government is currently dualizing and improving a total of 41 roads and six bridges with streetlights and road markings, reconstructing 10 markets in Kaduna, Zaria and Kafanchan; remodelling Murtala Square; constructing the Galaxy Shopping mall; three neighbourhood centres, and developing housing units in two areas in Kaduna. The administration has completed, and it is currently equipping 255 Primary Healthcare Centres and several schools, taking quality education and healthcare to our vulnerable and underserved communities.On roads, we have already completed the dualization of Katuru Road, Alkali Road, Muhammadu Buhari Way, Racecourse Road, Swimming Pool Road, Umaru Yaradua Road and a number of others. We are making good progress on Isa Kaita, Rabah Road, PAN Drive and many others across Kaduna, Zaria and Kafanchan towns.We are developing three neighbourhood centres within Kaduna metropolis and Zaria through Public-Private Partnership (PPP) agreements. This comprises two neighbourhood centres along Racecourse Road and one neighbourhood and recreational centre in Zaria.On housing, sites have been acquired in Rigasa and Unguwan Tanko in Kaduna, with civil works estimated at an average percentage completion of 64% and 29% respectively. The project will be expanded to Zaria and Kafanchan towns. Housing projects are currently ongoing, with 13 lots awarded for a total of 228 housing units in Rigasa and 18 lots awarded for a total of 224 housing units in Unguwan Tanko. Furthermore, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development has acquired sites in Zaria and Kafanchan for the construction of 100 housing units each, which will be commencing shortly. The Kaduna State Development and Property Company (KSDPC) is also collaborating with several private players to provide beautiful apartment blocks and modern terraces for a new Kaduna.There is a significant number of ongoing projects in other local governments that aren’t strictly under the Urban Renewal Programme, many of which are still ongoing with a large number to be completed this year. Our rural infrastructure programmes covering water supply, rural and township roads and the link roads which are necessary to boost socio-economic development are also being implemented assiduously.Finances are indeed an issue as these projects cost a lot, given the quality and volume of work being done. We have been working to enhance government effectiveness and to put in as much money as possible in serving the larger population of Kaduna state, rather than servicing the government. A lot of difficult trade-offs have been made and we have been able to mobilize all our partners to support the priorities we have identified. The state has ramped up its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) and is focused on completing a large number of these projects before the expiration of this administration.You mentioned that some of these projects are being funded directly by the government while others are executed on the basis of a Public-Private Partnership. Did the government secure any loan to execute some of these projects? As you are aware, we looked at our entire revenues and what we need to do in terms of infrastructure, human development and other aspects of government and it was very clear that if we are going to stick to our traditional sources of financing, this was not going to be sufficient. So, what we did is to leverage the private sector and also finance institutions. Some of the key partners are the World Bank, African Development Bank and Islamic Development Bank. And we have tried to get them to finance some of our key infrastructures. For example, there was an existing Islamic Development Bank loan on the Zaria Water project but this was already stalled by the former government, even though there was financing for it. There was also another financing for the same Zaria Water Works but a different component. What we tried to do was to improve on this financing through effective drawdown and paying our counterpart funding and then try to get more resources so that we could complete these projects on time and in good quality.We also applied for the $350 million World Bank loan, which we have started drawing on in 2019 and that has also boosted our capacity and our ability to develop our infrastructure. And as you can see, this is what we are using to do a lot of work.All of these loans are concessional, which means that they are taken at a very low cost. Most of them are between 2 to 3% maximum and they are long term and the cost is bearable by the state. And before we took the loan, we went through an extensive process with the Debt Management Office, to certify our debt to GDP ratio and debt to revenue ratio. And we have also done every fiscal viability studies and debt sustainability analysis to ensure that we have the carrying capacity to finance these debt instruments. So, the simple answer is yes, we have taken loans to finance some of our projects and we are still looking for more. For example, the Greater Kaduna Water Supply project is a huge project which is projected to cost about N400 billion and we want to see some aspects that can be financed by the private sector and the federal government. The importance of debt is to use it to finance productive ventures that will expand the ability of the state to generate more revenue, so as to pay back the loan. We are not taking loans to pay salaries or finance mass weddings! That is very clear to everybody.Last year, the Infrastructure Development Council which you head, made a long list of priority projects that should be completed within the tenure of this administration. How many are they and how feasible is the completion date, seeing that 2020 was almost lost to Covid-19 and the attendant lockdown?The council categorized and assessed all our ongoing projects and went through several exercises to identify projects that will have the largest impact on the people of the state. At the end of the exercise, about 300 projects were identified cutting across social and economic sectors and they were costed. A report was presented to the governor and then tabled to the State Executive Council. The council deliberated on the list and made significant and useful input that enriched it. The governor has ensured prioritized funding, monitoring and completion of all these projects.Estimated completion dates vary within sectors but most are at average progress of 50%. The pandemic surely slowed down progress, but currently, deadlines are being met and progress is proving resilient. The priority projects include but are not limited to the upgrade, renovation and equipping of 255 primary healthcare centres; upgrade and expansion of 15 model boarding secondary schools; Urban Renewal Projects; construction of 300-bed Specialist’s hospital; Greater Kaduna Water Supply Expansion Scheme; development of markets and neighbourhood centres; construction of mass Housing units; construction and rehabilitation of primary and secondary schools, among others.Have funds been set aside or ring-fenced for the funding of these priority projects, so as to guarantee their funding even in times of revenue shortfall? We have a mechanism that we have created, where every single month, out of the statutory allocation that we get, we pay for infrastructure first. All the money that we get from VAT is directed towards our priority projects. All the money that we get from loans is for these projects. So, the only money that we use for recurrent spending is our IGR which we want to dedicate to paying salaries. But basically, we are ring-fencing a lot of funding around VAT, external financing and part of FAAC, to ensure that we are able to pay for our priority projects.Why is Western Bypass not included in the priority projects, given the fact that it is a major road artery that connects the states of the North-West zone to the rest of the country?The current Western Bypass, also known as Nnamdi Azikiwe Way, is indeed among the priority projects although its financing will be borne by the federal government, under the Road Tax Credit Scheme, and it will be handled by Dangote Group. We have been putting significant pressure on the federal government for the urgent commencement of this project and we are hopeful that implementation will begin shortly.