President Muhammadu Buhari has signed an Executive Order 007, known as ‘Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme’.
The Executive Order signed at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, will allow private companies to build federal roads in the country. The private companies will fund the construction of major roads in the country, while they are repaid in form of tax credit.
In his remarks at the Executive Order signing, Buhari said: “Through this Scheme, companies that are willing and able to spend their own funds on constructing roads to their factories or farms, will recover their construction costs by paying reduced taxes, over a period of time”.
The Executive Order, according to the President, is designed to develop and deliver Public Private Partnerships with notable investors so as to close the road infrastructure gap in the transportation sector.
Buhari made known that under the arrangement, 19 eligible road projects will be undertaken.
The President added that the move provides another opportunity to demonstrate the commitment of the administration to conceive, design, develop and deliver Public Private Partnerships with notable investors in order to close the road infrastructure gap in the transportation sector.
What you should know about Executive Order
An executive order is a directive issued by the President who manages operations of the Federal Government and has the force of law.
In this context, the President has broad executive and enforcement authority to use his discretion to determine how to enforce the law or to otherwise manage the resources and staff of the executive branch.
Private sector’s involvement
However, 6 private sector players in the construction industry will execute the Executive Order 7. This was disclosed by Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, the Minister of Finance.
The sector players include -Dangote Industries Limited, Lafarge Africa Plc, Unilever Nigeria Plc, Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc, Nigeria LNG Limited, and China Road and Bridge Corporation Nigeria Limited.
Dangote alongside the other sector players are set to invest in 19 road projects, measuring 794.4 kilometres which have been prioritised in 11 states across each of the six geopolitical zones.