House Urges FG to Grant Tax Incentives to Public-spirited Companies

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

The House of Representatives has called on the federal government to consider granting tax incentives to more companies engaged in the infrastructural development of public schools and hospitals under the Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment investment Tax Credit (RITC) Scheme.

The resolution of the House was sequel to the adoption of a motion sponsored by Hon. Nnolim Nnaji and eight others at the plenary yesterday.

Presenting the motion, Nnaji  recalled that on January 25, 2019, the then Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, signed the Presidential Executive Order for the RITC scheme.

The lawmaker stressed that the main objective of the scheme was to sensitise and promote private sector funding for road infrastructure projects in a manner that would generate value for money and guarantee participant’s timely and full recovery of funds provided for the construction or repair.

Nnaji stressed that in 2021, the then Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) Coordinating Director, Tax Operations Group, Femi Oluwaniyi, urged other corporate bodies across the country to join Nigeria LNG, MTN and others, to take advantage of government’s tax credit facility and certificate for providing road infrastructures.

He said that the burden of bridging the infrastructure gap was too heavy for the federal government to bear alone due to the global economic challenges, with public schools and hospitals being at the verge of collapse due to poor infrastructural funding and development.

Nnaji added that provision of good schools and hospitals are the bedrock of societal development and economic growth, leading to reduction in unemployment, social vices, moral decadence, drug abuse, youth restiveness, mortality rate, spread of diseases and unhealthy environment.

The House, therefore, urged “The federal government to consider granting tax incentives to more companies for engagement in the infrastructural development of public schools and hospitals under a similar RITC Scheme, which can mitigate the fiscal responsibility of government and increase its revenue.”

It added: “The various Ministers of Finance, Education and Health, liaise with FIRS, to activate the bureaucratic processes for the successful implementation of this tax incentives by outlining measures and rules of engagement with stakeholders input and thriving mode of operation.”