The Federal Executive Council, on Wednesday, approved MTN’s takeover of the construction of the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway at over N202.8bn under the road Infrastructure Tax Credit Scheme.
The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, disclosed this to State House correspondents shortly after this week’s council meeting chaired by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
According to Fashola, the approval followed Executive Order 7 signed by the President in January 2019. This, he said, would enable the telecom giant to complete the dualisation of the 110-kilometer road. Under the same scheme, the Council approved the Umuchi-Ususu-Umueme Road in Abia State for construction by GZ Industries at N4.2bn.
He explained that “the Ministry of Works and Housing presented two memoranda and they are largely PPP based memoranda. In January 25, 2019 specifically, President Buhari approved Executive Order 7, which was the road infrastructure tax credit scheme, to allow private sector to invest tax liabilities in advance in infrastructure, and that policy has helped us to finance roads like or by Obajana to Kaba, Apapa-Oshodi, Oshoki-Ojota Expressway, the Bodo-Bonni expressway in Port Harcourt, about 1000 kilometers covering 21 roads under the NNPC investment.
