Kogi State governor, Alhaji Ahmed Ododo, said the decision of the state government to approach capital market for a N50 Billion Sukuk Bond was not out of fiscal distress, but out of strategic ambition.
Governor Ododo in a keynote address to investors and capital market stakeholders for the proposed Kogi State bond Issuance explained that the bond would accelerate infrastructure delivery, unlock productivity, and align investments with the state government’s defined long-term development vision.
The governor disclosed that proceeds of the proposed bond issuance would be used strictly to productivity enhancing infrastructure, not recurrent expenditure. This would include the financing of two transformational infrastructure projects of strategic economic importance to Kogi State, namely, the development of the Kogi State International Airport, and the completion of the Lokoja International Market.
He described the Kogi State International Airport as a catalytic project designed to unlock logistics efficiency, attract private investment, support agro-export, facilitate business travel, and position the state as a natural hub connecting Nigeria’s North, South, East, and West.
The Lokoja International Market when completed, the governor said, will serve as a major commercial nerve centre, “formalising trade, expanding internally generated revenue, creating thousands of direct and indirect jobs, and strengthening urban economic activity.”
Ododo stated that both projects are tangible, revenue supporting assets, and are fully aligned with Sukuk principles. According to him, the state presently operates a 32-year development plan, “which provides long-term direction, policy continuity, and predictability in capital deployment.”
This plan, he stated, is anchored on budgeting, borrowing, and project execution framework. The governor disclosed that his administration’s commitment to fiscal discipline and governance reforms has earned Kogi State a “B” rating by Fitch Ratings with a stable outlook, for improved financial management, a prudent debt posture, and a strengthening capacity to meet debt service obligations.
“This places Kogi State among sub-nationals with a recognised and credible credit profile,” the governor said. He also disclosed that Kogi State has been recognised as an oil-producing state, and has officially commenced receiving the 13 per cent derivation allocation from January this year.
