By Eze Okechukwu, Abuja

Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) Zacheus Adedeji on Wednesday in Abuja slammed the three-year-old N2.59trillio,n Tax Credit Scheme, which was introduced by the government of former President Muhammadu Buhari for road construction across the country.

This is as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), one of the critical tax scheme executors cleared air on the $3.

The indifference of the FIRS Chairman to the N2.59 trillion Tax Credit Scheme introduced through Executive Order 7 of 2021 by the ex-president Buhari administration came to the fore when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Finance along with the Chief Financial Officer of NNPCL, Alhaji Umoru Ajiya.

The Senator Sani Musa-led committee had invited the duo to shed light on the implementation of the scheme vis-a-vis the poor state of Federal Roads across the country.

However, while the NNPCL Chief Financial Officer raised the hope of the committee members that the scheme was helping in the re fixing of the dilapidated roads across the six geo political zones in the country with N664 billion spent so far, the FIRS boss said the scheme was unlawful and should be discontinued.

“The Mandate of FIRS lumped with execution of Tax Credit Scheme for road construction is to access, collect tax and remit it into the federation account and not to appropriate it for any purpose through Executive Order.

“It is not the duty of FIRS and NNPCL to be paying contractors. The Ministry of Works should be, in line with its core mandate, to award road contracts and pay for the contractors who had executed the projects.

“The scheme is a faster way for road reconstruction or rehabilitation across the country. But we should stop increasing speed in the wrong direction.

“As a way of stopping the wrong approach, FIRS and CBN are holding a meeting with the Ministry of Works Friday this week, where stock would be taken for what had been done through the scheme and thereafter, we will toe the right path.

“We should in a nutshell, not continue on the wrong trajectory,” he said.

Impressed by his submission, the Chairman of the Committee, Senator Sani Musa said that the relevant provisions of the 1999 constitution( as amended ) were against the scheme, because monies NNPC and FIRS are being made to spend on the roads through tax credit were supposed to be remitted into the consolidated revenue fund.

“We are waiting for the outcome of the meeting of the three agencies involved in the scheme before deciding on how to help the present government to correct the mistakes of the past,’ he said.

On the $3.3billion loan facility, NNPCL informed the Committee members that it was secured to support CBN to suppress forex volatility.

It said $2.2billion had already been secured for the apex bank while the balance of $1.05billion would be credited to the apex bank before the end of the month.