FG Discontinues Tax Credit Utilisation by Companies for Roads Development

Bennett Oghifo

The federal government has discontinued the use of tax credit by companies for road development, because this system does not follow constitutional tax administration.

It was know as Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme (Executive Order 007).

The Executive Chairman of Nigeria’s newly formed Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), Mr. Zacch Adedeji, gave the information about why it was discontinued when he addressed a joint sitting of the editorial boards of THISDAY and Arise News last Wednesday.

Adedeji said, “No matter how good a programme is, the first thing that it must have are good products. The remits of the Nigeria Revenue Service, as it were then or the Federal Inland Revenue Service is to access, to collect and to account “ for taxes. “Appropriation is not part of the remits of the Nigeria Revenue Service or Federal Inland Revenue Service. So when you give tax credits for roads it is an appropriation act, because you spent the money, but your remit is to collect and give it to the constitutional body that will sign that money. Which is the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).

“And who says that that money is yours? Who says it belongs to your family? Who says it’s not students that will come and work in your factory and want to use it to pay their school fees.”

Another point he raised was that FIRS/NRS lacks the competence to know how a road is constructed, saying, “We lack competence, as Nigerian Revenue Service, because we don’t know how the road is done and that is why we stopped the use of tax credit. Whatever their taxes, let government choose the proper appropriation.”

Many major companies in Nigeria have utilised the Federal Government’s Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme (Executive Order 007)to finance the construction and rehabilitation of federal roads in exchange for tax credits.

As of 2024–2025, the following companies are key participants in the scheme:

Key Details About the Scheme: