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Dangote gets 30% tax cut to construct Lokoja-Obajana-Ilorin road

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Nigeria@56:The lucky bastards

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday approved 30% tax incentives for Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote to enable him construct Lokoja-Obajana-Ilorin road.

The Obajana factory of the Dangote Cement is situated along that axis.

The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola gave the hint while addressing State House correspondents at the end of the FEC meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Fashola who was accompanied by the ministers of Information, Lai Mohammed; Labour, Chris Ngige and Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, said the business proposal seeks to take benefits of tax policies, tax laws for the purpose of using them to drive infrastructure development renewal.

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“So we presented a proposal by one of the subsidiary of Dangote group, a construction company, for the construction of a section of Lokoja-Obajana-Kabba Ilorin, specifically the section between Obajana-Kabba Road using cement as demonstrative of how perhaps we should continue to build going forward in order to reduce maintenance on the road and the company proposing to fund the construction of that section of the road in exchange for some tax remissions,” he said.

Explaining that the policy is not a Dangote only issue, he said that there is an existing tax policy which allows corporate or individual to make investment on the infrastructure of a public nature and later claim remission on its income tax obligation.

“Even as an individual you are entitled to make this claim if the infrastructure goes through this type of process and is approved by government. ‎So it is not a Dangote issue but an economic policy that is to stimulate investment in infrastructure renewal or in any other area that government feels it needs private sector to compliment it’s efforts in such area.

“So the details is about 30 per cent income tax obligation spread over time. It doesn’t mean they won’t pay tax, they will continue to pay their tax obligation but they will get remission for making this investment because ultimately the road doesn’t belong to them but to government and is for the benefits of Nigerians. So its like credit advance to government,” he added.

 

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