FIRS faults Buhari’s N2.59trn tax credit scheme on road construction

The Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Zacheus Adedeji, on Wednesday, faulted the N2.59 trillion Tax Credit Scheme introduced by former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration for road construction. This was as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), one of the executors of the scheme, cleared the air on a $3.3 billion loan […]

The Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Zacheus Adedeji, on Wednesday, faulted the N2.59 trillion Tax Credit Scheme introduced by former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration for road construction.

This was as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), one of the executors of the scheme, cleared the air on a $3.3 billion loan facility secured for the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the stabilisation of the naira in the foreign exchange market.

Adedeji spoke when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Finance along with the Chief Financial Officer of NNPCL, Umoru Ajiya, yesterday.

The committee had invited the duo to shed light on the implementation of the scheme.

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While Ajiya said the scheme had helped in fixing dilapidated roads across the six geo-political zones with N664 billion spent so far, the FIRS boss said the scheme was unlawful and should be discontinued.

Adedeji said, “It is not the duty of FIRS and NNPCL to be paying contractors. The Ministry of Works should be in line with its core mandate and be allowed to award road contracts and pay them.”

The Senate committee, chaired by Senator Sani Musa, agreed with Adedeji’s submission, saying relevant provisions of the 1999 constitution (as amended) were against the scheme because all revenues generated by government agencies were supposed to be remitted into the consolidated revenue fund.

On the $3.3 billion loan facility, NNPCL informed the committee members that it was secured to support CBN to suppress forex volatility.