The Managing Director of the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), Uche Orji, said on Thursday, that the Second Niger Bridge project, would be financed by both domestic and international investors

This is however against the earlier position of President Muhammadu Buhari, who stated that the project should be put on hold. He met with the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), on Thursday with focus on the performance of the Sovereign Wealth Fund, and the construction of the Second Niger Bridge.

At the meeting between the Managing Director of the NSIA, Uche Orji, and the President, it was gathered that the Federal Government’s contribution to the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) has been affected by the falling crude oil prices in the international market. Briefing reporters at the end of the meeting, Mr Orji, said that the $1 billion initial sovereign fund contributed by the government recorded 15.7 billion Naira profit in 2014.

On the state of the fund, he said: “The government gave us $1 billion which is the only contribution we have received and we made 15.7 billion Naira profit last year from the contribution.

“We haven’t gotten additional fund from the government, but the fund is structured in a way that it can go through hard time.

“We all know oil price is volatile. It goes up and it comes down, but we have structured the fund such that it can remain consistently profitable,” he said.

Mr Orji also stated that he discussed the commitment of the NSIA on the Second Niger Bridge, healthcare, agriculture and power with the President.

“We have a vehicle called NSIA Motorways Investment Company that partnered with Julius Berger Investment to become preferred bidder to the second Niger Bridge Project.

“We are still going through the process of signing the concession agreement so we become the concessionaire. But to do all of that, we have to prepare the project,” the NSIA boss said.

Orji, further explained that the investments the NSIA had made so far was in project preparation, “making sure that the environmental and social impact assessment is made”.

He said that the project preparation phase had cost the Authority $2.2 million.

The Second Niger Bridge is a significant project that will have three lanes on each side of the dual carriage road.