The Federal Government has said that about 794 kilometres of road have been prioritized for construction by eligible companies through Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme.
This follows the approval by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for a number of key infrastructural projects to be undertaken by some companies in place of their tax obligations under the Tax Credit Scheme.
This was made known by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in Washington DC during his ongoing engagement with various global media outlets, global think tanks and influencers.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, Mohammed, during his interaction with Reuters and Washington Post, said that so far, 11 states covering all the 6 geopolitical zones would benefit from the road project scheme made possible by Executive Order No. 7.
He identified the companies that had taken the advantage of the initiative as Dangote Industries, Unilever, Julius Berger, MTN, BUA Group of Companies, Access Bank, Transcorp Group, Lafarge and GZI Industries.
Mohammed said the companies would engage in providing big roads and bridges in exchange for tax credit.
The minister also told the media outlets that the western countries should consider helping developing countries like Nigeria in developing their infrastructure adding that by doing so, it would help in employing more people, particularly youths, and make it difficult for an ideological group like Boko Haram to recruit them.
Mohammed pointed out that the federal government had also intervened in not less than 28 road projects through Sukuk Bond.
What you should know
The Road Infrastructure Tax Credit Scheme enables companies with high tax profiles to construct roads in a negotiated agreement with the federal government to provide the infrastructure instead of taxes
The scheme which is for 10 years from its commencement date, is a public-private partnership intervention that enables the federal government to leverage private sector capital and efficiency for the construction, refurbishment, and maintenance of critical road infrastructure in key economic areas in Nigeria.
The completed 43km Obajana-Kabba road in Kogi, which is Nigeria’s longest concrete road, was constructed by Dangote Industries through the tax credit scheme.
