Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Muhammad Nami has said the federal government’s road infrastructure tax credit scheme is a noble initiative that should be applauded by everyone. The scheme is designed to tackle Nigeria’s infrastructure deficit.
The scheme provides for public-private partnership intervention in the construction, refurbishment and maintenance of critical road infrastructure in the country with participants being entitled to tax credits against their future companies income tax (CIT).
NAMI made the argument at the Senate public hearing on the 2023 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and fiscal paper held earlier this week at the Senate chambers, according to a statement that was issued by the agency yesterday.
“I think one of the greatest innovations of the government of the day is the Executive Order 007, which was signed into law in 2019,” Mr. Nami said. “I want to speak to the one we are handling jointly with the NNPC. The NNPC through its subsidiary for instance is investing in about 1,824 kilometres of roads across the 6 geopolitical zones in Nigeria.
“Some of these roads had been constructed as far back as 1976. I could remember when I was still rounding up my primary school education, the road that leads Suleja to Lapai-Agaie-Bida was constructed by a company called DTV. I am not aware of any significant work done on that road 40 years later, only until now when the NNPC is using Executive Order 007 to reconstruct the road,” Nami said.
Mr Nami said from December 2021 to July this year, the contractor has completed the reconstruction of well over 50 percent of that road. He said the challenge of road construction in Nigeria has always been funding.
