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The Federal Government has handed over the design of the 35km stretch Apapa-Oshodi-Oworonshoki Expressway to Dangote Group in furtherance of steps by the government to rehabilitate the all-important road.
The road design was handed over to Dangote, last Wednesday, signalling the readiness of both parties to press forward with their agreement to undertake the repair of the road through a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement.
The road leads to Nigeria’s two major seaports Tincan and Apapa ports, in Lagos.
BusinessDay learnt that the Dangote Group is now expected to work in tandem with the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) to come up with the costing which will then be tabled for discussion and approval by the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
The Federal Government announced in September it would be granting a 10-year tax incentive to the Dangote Group after the company agreed to rehabilitate the Apapa-Oworonshoki Expressway.
Babatunde Fashola, Minister of Power, Works and Housing, who made this known while speaking as guest at BusinessDay’s Road Construction Summit, in Lagos, last month, stated that “We inherited a tax incentive policy for individuals and firms to benefit from tax remission, to recover investment made in public infrastructure like roads, which other members of the public can utilise.”
According to Fashola, the Federal Government approved a review of the five-year limit on tax enjoyed by the company to 10 years after Dangote agreed to work on the Apapa to Oworonshoki end of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
The minister, who explained the rationale behind the upward review of the tax incentive to 10 years, said it was to sustain private investment in road infrastructure, “because it is a long-term asset.”
Fashola said then that the government was awaiting the design of the 35km stretch excluding the portion that has been completed, about 7km, by the previous administration around Mile 2 area.
According to him, from the design, government will determine the cost and the scope of works which it hoped would be executed quickly. He said government was committed to solving the Apapa and port congestion problem.
According to him, pending applications from Dangote Group were not approved by the previous government, but have now been approved by the present administration and that work has commenced on the 42.9 km Obajana –Kabba road in Kogi State, also being reconstructed by Dangote.
Dangote, Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc, and Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) are also jointly rehabilitating two kilometres stretch Ijora-Wharf, from the Area ‘B’ Police Command to Apapa port as part of their corporate social responsibility at the cost of N4.3 billion.
Aliko Dangote, president of Dangote Group is building a 650,000 barrel per day oil refinery in Lagos and has investments worth billions of Dollar across Africa. He is, according to Forbes, Africa’s richest man.
JOSHUA BASSEY
