MTN Nigeria has been given the go-ahead by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to construct the Enugu-Onitsha road at a cost of N203billion under the road Infrastructure Tax Credit Scheme.
The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, who disclosed this yesterday after the weekly council meeting chaired by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said MTN is taking over the construction of the road following an Executive Order 7 signed by the President in January 2019.
He said the telecom giant will complete the dualisation of the 110-kilometer road.
“Today, we have two PPP-based memoranda approved by the Federal Executive Council. The first that was approved is the one by MTN Nigeria Plc to take over and complete the ongoing Enugu-Onitsha Expressway. That road is 110 kilometres, which is being dualised. So, you have 110 kilometers times two,” he said.
On January 25, 2019, specifically, President Buhari approved Executive Order 7, which was the road infrastructure tax credit scheme, to allow the private sector to invest tax liabilities in advance in infrastructure, and that policy has helped us to finance roads like or by Obajana to Kaba, Apapa-Oshodi, Oshoki-Ojota Expressway, the Bodo-Bonni expressway in Port Harcourt, about 1000 kilometers covering 21 roads under the NNPC investment. So, there is an increased optic for that policy.