Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola said the ongoing construction of Apapa/Oworonsoki Expressway is being undertaken by the Dangote Group with tax credit.
Fashola stated this while briefing State House correspondents at the end of the Federal Executive Council meeting, chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The former Lagos State Governor’s discussion centred on the upward reviewer of the road contracts from the initial rates by the council, and the return of tolls on the expressways including the decision reached by the federal government to embark on massive roads construction using the Public-Private Partnership initiative.
On the latter, he went on to touch on how the Dangote Group is constructing the Apapa/Oworonsoki Expressway through tax incentive.
According to him: “Essentially, that is another PPP initiative where companies are supposed to invest their money in infrastructure and then recover it from their tax payments.
“What people may not understand is, first of all, the company has to make a profit before it can be taxed.
“So, when you have to build N50 billion highway, how many Nigerian companies are even doing a turnover of N50 billion in the private sector? How many are declaring profits of N50 billion? The tax that you apply on N50 billion profit is 30 per cent. So if you do that, it will be about N15 billion.
“Look at it that way. So, how many companies are in that? A few banks maybe and perhaps Aliko (Dangote, Chairman of Dangote Group) and it is no surprise therefore that the Dangote Group is the one building the Apapa/Oworonsoki Expressway using the tax credit.”
A tax credit is a type of tax incentive that can reduce the amount of money a taxpayer owes the government.
