The Federal Government through the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has issued Dangote Cement Plc, tax credit certificates valued at ₦22.321billion.
The tax credit certificates were issued to the cement manufacturers after they ensured the construction of Apapa-Oworonshoki-Ojota road in Lagos and Lokoja-Obajana-Kabba road straddling Kogi and Kwata states.
Construction giants Julius Berger is handling the construction of the two federal roads, while Dangote Cement Plc is providing the funding.
To compensate Dangote Cement, the Federal Government has issued the company the certificates to cover for the tax that Dangote Cement would have paid.
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Executive Chairman of the FIRS, Muhammad Nami, represented by Coordinating Director, Tax Operations Group, Mr. Femi Oluwaniyi, gave the clarification in Abuja on Wednesday when he presented the two tax credit certificates to Dangote Cement.
The tax credit certificates for the Apapa – Oworoshoki – Ojota expressway is valued at ₦21.6 billion while the tax credit certificate for the Lokoja-Obajana-Kabba expressway is valued at ₦721 million.
This is the second tax credit certificate the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) issued to Dangote for the Lokoja-Obajana-Kabba road construction.
₦9.5billion tax credit certificate was in 2019 awarded to Dangote Cement Plc for the Lokoja-Obajana-Kabba road.
Oluwaniyi said: ‘Government came to that reasoning that if we could encourage local investors to do the needful and of course under an agreement with some due monitoring and approvals then some of the monies they would have accrued back to government as taxes they would have paid.
‘It will be in the interest of the government that other investors, business entrepreneurs, companies take advantage of this key initiative such that Nigeria can develop faster than government would have done alone’.
AFRICA DAILY NEWS, NEW YORK
