Tinubu Won’t Cancel Tax Credit Scheme Initiated By Buhari – Umahi

The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has declared that contrary to speculations in some quarters, President Bola Tinubu would not cancel the Tax Credit Scheme for road construction initiated by former President Muhammadu Buhari.

Umahi made the submission on Friday after a meeting with the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Zaccheus Adedeji.

Naija News recalls the FIRS boss, during an appearance before the House of Representatives on Wednesday, described the scheme as illegal and a step in the wrong direction.

Adedeji, who appeared in the company of the Chief Financial Officer of NNPCL, Umoru Ajiya, expressed strong disapproval of the scheme and called on the federal government to discontinue it.

He argued that it shouldn’t be the responsibility of the FIRS or NNPCL to pay contractors.

But Umahi on Friday said President Tinubu is not opposed to the use of taxes from companies to fund road projects.

He added that he and the FIRS Chairman have agreed to make a joint presentation to the President on how to address the lapses noticed and the methodology for programme implementation which would adopt a more robust approach.

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.”

Umahi also disclosed that as part of their resolution, non-performing contracts shall be terminated.