Business

FEC okays N309bn road contracts for Dangote as tax credit

Published

3 years ago

July 14, 2021

Dangote Industries has received approval of the Federal Executive Council to construct five roads totalling 274.9km at a cost of N309,917,717,251.35 to be advanced by the company as a tax credit.
Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, disclosed this to journalists on Wednesday while briefing state house correspondents at the end of the FEC meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The mnister said the road contract, which was the second approved for ministry by the council, would be executed on concrete and would be the larger of such project in the country.
He said, “The second memorandum presented by the ministry was for the construction or the reconstruction, as the case may be, of five road projects in favour of Dangote Industries Limited, totalling 274.9km of federal roads, under the Federal Government Roads Infrastructure Tax Credit policy.
“Those five roads totalling 274.9km will cost N309,917,717,251.35 to be advanced by the Dangote Industries as tax credit.
“The roads, specifically, are Bama to Banki in Borno State for N51.016 billion with 49.153 kilometres; Dikwa to Gamboru-Ngala, 49.577 kilometres in Borno State for N55.504 billion; the Nnamdi Azikiwe Road, popularly known as a Western Bypass in Kaduna. 21.477 kilometres, from Command Junction to Kawu, in the sum of N37.560 billion.
“Others are deep seaport access road sections 1 and 3 in Lagos State, through Epe to Shagamu Expressway, 54.24 kilometres, that links Lagos and Ogun states, in the sum of N85.838 billion and the Obele/Ilaro/Papalanto to Shagamu Road, 100 kilometres in Ogun State, in the sum of N79.996 billion.
“Council considered and approved this memorandum to facilitate the construction of 274 kilometres of concrete roads. So, this will be the largest single award of concrete roads ever undertaken by the government of Nigeria in one award.”
Fashola explained that the award of the contract to Dangote Group was consistent with funding options.
“First of all, the award is consistent with our multiple funding options, which includes engagement with the private sector,” he explained.
“Secondly, the tax credit initiative was in existence in the last administration before this government but was not utilised. So, this administration has revised it, expanded it, and has used it to construct roads like the Apapa Wharf Road, the Oworonsoki to Apapa, through Oshodi Road, by the same Dangote Group.”
“The Obajana-Kabba Road, still the Dangote Group. The Bodo-Bonny bridges and road, which Council approved last week, through the NLNG.
“There was also interest by many other companies that are being reviewed. So, it’s not unique to Dangote. So, he’s the one who has applied and we’ve been in this process. So, this is the next batch of roads that they are taking up.
“They invest their money, and then instead of when their taxes come due for payment, they net it off. That’s the circumstance. This is not concession; this is tax credit policy; don’t let’s mix them together.
“The policy says that anybody who wants to invest his personal resources, and it includes individuals, in any infrastructure that the public will have access to, can do so under certain conditions, which includes applying to the Ministry of Works.
“The ministry evaluates, and the Minister of Finance chairs a tax credit committee because they keep an eye on how much tax giveaway in one year, so that it doesn’t affect government’s revenue performance, once we take on the investment.
“So, it’s the committee that then approves and says go ahead, this is good, this is how much tax we’ll allow per year, and if the company is satisfied, then we go to BPP and then come to FEC.”
The ministry was also granted the approval to revise the total cost of the contract for the construction of Michael Imoudu/Ganmo/Afon Junction Road in Ilorin, Kwara State.
Fashola said the government also considered and approved the request to revise the cost of the construction of part of Michael Imoudu/Ganmo/Afon Junction road in Ilorin, Kwara state by N204,411,926.13, adding that the original contract sum was revised from N1.691bn to N1.896bn and the completion period is now 12 months.

Related Topics:Dangote Featured FEC road contract

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Food price, transport fare hike push Nigeria’s inflation to 33.88%

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8 hours ago

November 15, 2024

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Food price, transport fare hike push Nigeria’s inflation to 33.88%

Rising cost of living based on the increase in food prices and transport fares among others has reflected in the latest inflation figures in Nigeria, put at 33.88 per cent.

Nigeria’s headline inflation rate rose to 33.88 per cent in October 2024, up from 32.7 per cent in September 2024, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released on Friday.

Newstrends.ng observes that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has raised interest rates five times this year in an effort to rein in inflation.

The NBS in its latest report attributed the rise in inflation to increased transportation costs and higher food prices.

On a year-on-year basis, the rate was 6.55 percentage points higher than the 27.33 per cent recorded in October 2023, highlighting a substantial increase in inflation over the past year.

On a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in October 2024 stood at 2.64 per cent, representing a 0.12 per cent increase from the 2.52 per cent recorded in September 2024

This indicates that the rate of increase in the average price level in October 2024 was higher than the rate of increase observed in September 2024.

Aviation

Disaster averted as bird strike hits Abuja-Lagos Air Peace flight

Published

1 day ago

November 14, 2024

Trends Admin

Disaster averted as bird strike hits Abuja-Lagos Air Peace flight

An Abuja-Lagos flight was on Thursday aborted following a bird strike on the airplane belonging to Air Peace, forcing the authorities to ground the aircraft.

The bird strike experienced in the early hours reportedly prompted a ramp return to ensure the safety of passengers onboard.

All the passengers quickly disembarked and were calmed down before they were moved into another plane for the one-hour journey.

A bird strike is a collision between a bird and an aircraft, or other airborne animal, while the aircraft is in flight, taking off, or landing. And it can be a significant threat to aircraft safety.

Air Peace in a statement by its Head of Corporate Communications, Ejike Ndiulo, said the bird strike occurred at 6:30am, and all passengers disembarked normally.

The statement read, “We wish to inform our esteemed passengers that our Abuja- Lagos 06:30 flight experienced a bird strike before take-off, prompting a ramp return as a safety measure. All passengers disembarked normally.

“We have deployed a replacement aircraft for the affected flight in order to minimize disruptions, thus ensuring that passengers continue their journeys promptly.

“We appeal for the understanding of our valued passengers impacted by this development, as well as those on other flights that may experience delays.

“At Air Peace, we are committed to providing safe, comfortable, and reliable air travel for all our passengers.”

Business

NNPC achieves 1.8mbpd crude oil production

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November 14, 2024

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NNPC achieves 1.8mbpd crude oil production

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) and its partners have revved up crude oil and gas production to 1.8million barrels per day (mbpd) and 7.4standard cubic feet per day (scfd).

The company which announced this at a press briefing said the feat was achieved in compliance with the mandate of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Speaking on the development, the Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Mele Kyari, congratulated the Production War Room Team that anchored the production recovery process.

“The team has done a great job in driving this project of not just production recovery but also escalating production to expected levels that are in the short and long terms acceptable to our shareholders based on the mandates that we
have from the President, the Honourable Minister, and the Board,” Kyari explained.

Giving details of the efforts of the Production War Room, the Chief War Room Coordinator and Senior Business Adviser to the Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Lawal Musa, disclosed that the feat was achieved through the collaborative efforts of Joint Venture and Production Sharing Contract partners, the Office of the National Security Adviser, as well as government and private security agencies.