N2.59 Trillion: Tinubu’s Govt Suspects Foul Play, Set To Cancel Major Deal Approved By Buhari

President Bola Tinubu’s government is set to cancel a major deal approved by his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari over suspected foul play.

The Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Zaccheus Adedeji, urged President Tinubu to halt the N2.59 trillion Tax Credit Scheme initiated during the previous administration of Buhari in 2021.

Adedeji criticized the scheme, labeling it as a misstep in policy direction.

Speaking on Wednesday before the Senate Committee on Finance, Adedeji voiced his concerns regarding the scheme aimed at financing road construction projects nationwide.

The Tax Credit Scheme was introduced via Executive Order 7 of 2021 during the tenure of former President Buhari.

During his testimony before the Senate Committee chaired by Senator Sani Musa, Adedeji rebuked the scheme, deeming it unlawful and contrary to national interests.

The Senate Committee summoned officials from FIRS and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to elaborate on the scheme’s implementation, particularly in addressing the poor state of federal roads across the country.

Accompanied by the Chief Financial Officer of NNPCL, Umoru Ajiya, Adedeji vehemently opposed the scheme and advocated for its discontinuation by the federal government.

He emphasized that it is not within the mandate of FIRS or NNPCL to pay contractors, urging the Ministry of Works to handle road contracts and their payments accordingly.

Adedeji stated, “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.”

He continued, “The Ministry of Works should be in line with its core mandate, be allowed to award road contracts and pay for them.”

“As a way of stopping the wrong approach, FIRS and the Central Bank of Nigeria are holding a meeting with the Ministry of Works this Friday,” he added. “At the meeting, we are going to take stock of what had been done through the scheme and thereafter we will toe the right path. We should, in a nutshell, not continue in the wrong trajectory.”