Buhari selects five investors to finance road works in 11 states
By President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday proclaimed Executive Order #007 of 2019 on Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme and thereafter named five private investors to build and rehabilitate 19 road projects in 11 states.
Minister of Finance, Mrs Zainab Ahmed will chair the 13-man management committee of the scheme.
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 will execute the 19 projects and recoup their relevant project costs after these costs have been duly scrutinised by the Management Committee to ensure that only those costs that are wholly, reasonably, exclusively and necessarily incurred in the development and maintenance of the Eligible Roads.
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A statement by Special Assistant to the Minister of Communication, Mr Paul Abechi at the weekend quoted Ahmed as saying “our intention is for there to be at least one significant Eligible Road Project underway in every State of the Federation within the first year of the operation of this Scheme.”
According to her once approved, these eligible road projects will be published in an Official Gazette, and modalities would be agreed upon with the investors to accelerate the implementation of these projects, the verification of eligible project costs, as well as the issuance of tax credit certificates to the Investors.
“These Investors will be investing in the following 19 Eligible Road Projects, totalling 794.4km which have been prioritised in 11 states including Kaduna, Borno, Kogi, Benue, Ogun, Edo, Gombe, Kano, Abia, Lagos and Rivers states.
“The quantum of tax credits that may be utilised by any participating investor is restricted to ensure that in every tax year, the investor must pay at least half of its normal corporate tax liability.
However, unutilised tax credits may be deferred for use in subsequent fiscal years until the investments in the Eligible Road Projects are fully recouped.
“Investors shall not be entitled to claim any other tax credit, capital allowance, relief or incentive on relevant project costs incurred in respect of any Eligible Road Project under any law in force in Nigeria, in addition to the tax credits provided pursuant to this Scheme.
This is to avoid duplication of claims being made.
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