The Nigeria Transportation Commissioners Forum (NTCF) has issued a directive to State Ministries of Transportation to fast-track the submission of bankable infrastructure proposals, a move from policy dialogue to effective execution of the National Urban Mobility Program (NUMP).
The directive follows a stakeholder forum held on Thursday, January 22, 2026, where the World Bank linked future disbursements to state-level compliance and the technical viability of proposed projects.
With Nigeria’s urban population projected to hit 264 million by 2050, the macroeconomic cost of inertia has become a central concern for multilateral lenders. Mathew Vergis, World Bank Country Director, noted that the current infrastructure deficit is a direct tax on the economy.
“Commuters in major urban areas lose up to four hours daily to congestion, a direct drain on national productivity,” Vergis stated, adding that low-income households are currently spending an “unsustainable portion” of their earnings on inefficient transport.
The World Bank has signaled it is moving beyond mere technical analysis, offering a “blend of financing and convening power” to transform these bottlenecks into job-creating infrastructure.
Despite the available financing, significant structural hurdles remain. Abdulateef Shittu, Director General of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), on behalf of NGF Chairman Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, warned that urban mobility reform remains deeply political.
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Shittu said that the friction points that often deter private and multilateral investment are overlapping jurisdictions that stall project implementation, the influence of powerful informal unions on reform, and the need for precise terms on the balance between grants and loans, as well as long-term maintenance frameworks.
To bridge the gap between political will and fiscal reality, Olugbenga Dairo, leading the NTCF, has moved to enforce strict compliance. States that participated in the January forum are now required to submit details of Phase 1 investment projects immediately.
The NTCF has made the completion of NUMP engagement surveys a mandatory prerequisite for further participation. Furthermore, states benefiting from the Nigeria Public Transportation Program (NPTP) must now prove how they will integrate existing assets, such as rail, terminals, and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) infrastructure, into their new proposals to ensure synergy and avoid waste.
To seal the necessary political commitment, Dairo said that the NTCF is currently lobbying to place the NUMP on the agenda of the upcoming National Governors meeting.
“This move aims to secure the executive buy-in required to resolve the capacity gaps identified by the government forum,” he said.
As competition for multilateral funding tightens, the NTCF emphasised that the responsiveness and quality of state submissions will be the primary metrics for prioritising and sequencing investments.
