Forty days before the end of his tenure, the Buhari-led Federal Government has approved the sum of N1.535 trillion for the construction and rehabilitation of eleven major roads in Nigeria.
News About Nigeria reports that the approval was given by the Federal Executive Council under the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) Tax Credit Scheme.
According to the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, the money would be used to construct and rehabilitate over 700km of roads that would link 11 states in the country, including Edo, Delta, Kano, Kaduna, Borno and Adamawa, among others.
The approval came under phase II of the NNPC tax credit scheme, which was initiated to attract private sector investment to the development of infrastructure in Nigeria.
In January this year, the council approved a memo for the NNPC to invest N1.9 trillion on 44 roads, with the balance of roads that had to go through procurement between then and now being the 11 roads that have now been approved by the council.
Fashola explained that the roads would soon be completed, and the project would bring immense benefits to the country, including improved access to markets and social services, faster transportation of goods and services, and enhanced economic activities, among others.
The NNPC tax credit scheme is part of the Federal Government’s efforts to encourage private-sector investment in infrastructure development, particularly in areas that are of strategic importance to the country’s economic growth and development.
The scheme allows companies that invest in the development of critical infrastructure to recover the cost of the investment through tax credit, which can be used to offset future tax liabilities. It is aimed at leveraging private sector resources to fill the infrastructure gap in Nigeria, which has been estimated to be in the region of $100 billion.
