Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari. (Photo by Audu MARTE / AFP)
Barely 24 hours after President Muhammadu Buhari signed the “Executive Order 7 of 2019 on the Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme” aimed at developing and delivering Public Private Partnerships (PPP) with notable investors to bridge the road infrastructure gap in the transportation sector, experts are calling on the Federal Government to develop a well worked out legal framework for its implementation.
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According to them, the option could boost the country’s road infrastructural development, if adequate supervision and clear procedures for its implementation are adhered to by government and private organisations.
The President had last Friday signed the order known as, “Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme,” which permits private companies to fund construction of major roads in the country, while they are repaid in form of tax credit.
With the development, private concerns such as Dangote Group and Lafarge Africa, among others, could construct major roads across the country and be paid in the form of tax credit.
Speaking with The InfoTrust, a structural engineer, Dr. Bamidele Dahunsi observed that the legal framework has to be well worked out; else, it will just be another way of ‘making money for the boys’ without really getting the result. Former Chairman of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, (NSE), Apapa branch, Dr. Ombugadu Garba commended the orger. He advised that government must set out clear procedures and stick to them.
