After approving the takeover of the construction work on the Enugu-Onitsha expressway by MTN Nigeria at about N202.8 billion, under the Road Infrastructure Tax Credit (RITC) scheme, the same govt & their cohorts are trying to frustrate the project.
I can authoritatively tell you that work has stopped on Enugu-Onitsha Expressway. It didn’t stop because of lack of fund, but because of the greed & corruption within govt circle.
Remember, it was the same Road Infrastructure Tax Credit Scheme, to allow the private sector to invest tax liabilities in advance in infrastructure that has helped to finance roads like Obajana to Kaba, Apapa-Oshodi Expressway by Dangote & others. We never heard stories. Now, I’m hearing that the politicians in the National Assembly & their counterparts in Ministry of works under the leadership of Babatunde Fashola on one hand & MTN on the other hand are at loggerhead on who should be in charge of funds & disbursing of same to the contractor- RCC(Reynolds Construction Company)
Please, someone should educate me on this. You handed over a project to a financer after evaluating the cost & turn around & tell the same financer to pass the money to you to be paying the contractor after every stage of construction & raising of certificate.
Is it not monitoring & oversight that you should be doing as a govt? What I see in this case is that the govt overinflated the cost of the project. Now, they want to have their own cut before passing the rest to the contractor. Now MTN is not agreeing with such arrangement, because I don’t think it is in line with the agreement.
Please, if you are in South East, especially within Enugu & Anambra, try to confirm this & help escalate it before they make a mess of that road. I ask Again; What are those representing us in the National Assembly & states doing about this? Are they partners in this intended corrupt arrangement? We need to interrogate this seriously.
