Tinubu not opposed to tax credit scheme, Umahi replies FIRS

The Minister of Works, Sen David Umahi, has stated that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is not opposed to the use of taxes from companies to fund road.

He said the scheme, which is under the Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit (Tax Credit) Scheme, had enabled the country to fix some important roads across the country.

Recall that the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue, Zacch Adedeji, while appearing before the House of Representatives said the scheme violated the extant law in the country, noting that companies were not supposed to use their tax to directly fund construction.

But Umahi after a meeting with the FIRS boss on Friday said the president approved the continuity of the scheme.

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The minister said that the media reports that claimed the Chairman of FIRS announced the scheme would be stopped was not correct.

In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Uchenna Orji, Umahi further reiterated that the scheme was highly beneficial and that the implementation framework was encapsulated in the Executive Order No. 007 of 2019 of the Federal Government of Nigeria.

“Part of their agreement was that all the NNPC projects on road infrastructure as started, should not be expanded, but should continue to the tune of N2.59trn. It was also agreed at the beginning of this Executive Order, and it was very clear that the N2.59trn was not the total cost of the project.

“Sometimes it’s about 40% funding, sometimes it’s about 50% funding. So, ab initio, the cost of the project up to completion was not N2.59trn. Now, we have scoped the entire project and then put a review on it, and the funding gap is NN2.7trn.

“We agreed that two of us would make a joint memo to Mr. President to suggest that the N2.7trn funding gap be channelled to the National Assembly for approval and then the method upon which we get the money.”

While thanking the Chairman of FIRS for his commitment to the scheme, he noted some of the challenges they discussed such as the problem of methodology for programme implementation and their resolve to adopt a more robust approach to solve the problem.

He also said that part of their resolution was that non performing contracts shall be terminated.