MTN to Construct Enugu-Onitsha Road at a Cost of N203 Billion

The Federal Executive Council, on Wednesday at its weekly FEC meeting approved MTN’s takeover of the construction of the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway at over N202.8bn. 

The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola who briefed journalists at the end of the meeting noted that the takeover was granted under the Road Infrastructure Tax Credit Scheme.

According to the Minister, the approval will ensure that MTN completes the dualisation of the 110-kilometre road. 

Investors King learnt that the first line of the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway is currently under construction by the Federal Government while the other line of the expressway will be constructed by the telecommunication giant.

It will be recalled that in 2019, the Ministry of Works and Housing sought Presidential approval for Executive Order 9 which was otherwise known as ‘Road Infrastructure Tax Credit Scheme’. 

This order allows the private sector to invest tax liabilities in advance in infrastructure. Some of the roads which the ministry has constructed through the order include Obajana to Kabba Road, Apapa-Oshodi Road, Oshoki-Ojota Expressway and the Bodo-Bonni expressway in Port Harcourt

Meanwhile, in the 2023 budget proposal, the Federal Government has proposed to spend a total of N300.3 billion of its N20.51 trillion for all activities in the Ministry of Works and Housing.

A breakdown of the Ministry’s budget shows that of the total of N300.3 billion allocated to it, capital projects take a significant sum of N288.4 billion, overhead costs received a proposal of N667.8 million while personnel costs will gulp N11.2 billion. 

Investors King understands that the Ministry of Works and Housing is one of the few ministries with the highest capital expenditure. 

Some of the roads which have been captured in the ministry’s budget include the expansion of the Abuja-Keffi Dual carriageway and the dualization of the Keffi-Akwanga-Lafia-Makurdi road.

Others include the Construction of Agbor-Sakpoba Road and the rehabilitation of the access road to Apapa/Tincan Island Port in Lagos State.