Dangote Gets Three-year Tax Relief After Constructing Apapa-Oworonshoki Road

• Dangote Gets Three-year Tax Relief After Constructing Apapa-Oworonshoki Road

The management of Dangote Group has said it will get a three-year tax holiday after constructing the 35km Apapa-Oworonshoki road.

An Executive Director in the company, Devakumar Edwin, made this known in a statement yesterday in Lagos.

Edwin said: “The company has never benefited any tax waivers or credits in its entire history except when it is industry based and same applies to all industry players.

“It is very painful when some people accuse our company of benefitting 10 years’ tax rebate from the government. There is nothing like tax credit in all these.

“We volunteered to construct the Apapa to Oworonshoki long highway at a cost that will be about 15 to 25 per cent less than the lowest bid on the road.

“We hope to get back our money after three years by removing the sum from the tax we are supposed to pay.”

He explained that the company proposed to the government to take out 50 per cent of the total cost of the road from its proposed tax in the first year after completion and 25 per cent in each of the next two years.

“The government came forward and said, good enough your company is repairing a road that is very important to all Nigerians… is it possible to help us do proper road construction of 35 kilometers from Apapa to Oworonshoki?

“We advised the government to go for a competitive bidding and also that we will take it up at a cost that will be lower than the lowest bid received by the government.

“Since the government may not be handy with cash, we proposed that we will recover our money over three years in installments against our future tax.

“The reality is the government will not pay us for the construction, but we will only offset our costs against our three years tax.”

He explained that the company volunteered to repair the Apapa road as part of its corporate social responsibility initiative and that the construction would be carried out at 15-25 per cent lesser than the lowest bid.

The Federal Government had said it would use tax incentive order to hand over the Apapa area comprising Creek Road, Liverpool Road, Marine Beach to Mile 2, Oshodi, Oworonshoki to the Lagos end of the Toll Gate on the Ibadan Expressway to Dangote Group.