This is why Lagos State Assembly wants to introduce land use charge 2017

If you own a house in Lagos or plan to buy one in the future, this would be of interest.

 

If any of the above doesn’t apply to you but you rent property in Lagos, you might want to become interested, as chances are that your landlord might enforce an upward review of your rent when the Land Use Charge 2017 law is passed.

Even if you’re not a Lagosian, still, it doesn’t hurt to know what’s going on. We guarantee that you could learn something useful along the way.

 

Ok, what’s all this about?

The Lagos State House of Assembly on Thursday moved to increase the state’s government sources of revenue by reviewing the current Land Use Charge in the state.

 

Why is that?

It’s because according to Lagos State House of Assembly member and the Chairman, Adhoc Committee on Budget and Economic Planning, Mr Gbolahan Yishawu, only about 300,000 houses were paying land use charge in a state with over two million houses. (Think: lost revenue.)

So?

The House yesterday read for a second time a bill titled: “A Bill for A Law To Repeal The Land Use Charge Law 2001 and Enact Land Use Charge 2017 and For Connected Purposes.”

They subsequently committed the bill to the House Ad hoc Committee on Finance headed by Mr Yinka Ogundimu.

 

What do they hope to achieve with the bill?

The Assembly wants to help the state government raise the bar on its sources of revenue or so the Speaker of the House Mr Mudashiru Obasa said. The proposed law will in effect increase the number of eligible houses that can pay dues to the state government.

Obasa said that a situation where only a few consultants were working with the state government on the collection of Land Use Charge was not encouraging.

The speaker, who noted that so many buildings have yet to be captured in the tax net of the state, said there was a need for more consultants.

He says: “We need more consultants to do the job so that the entire state can be covered in the collection of Land Use Charge.

“Whatever tribunal that would be set up to deal with offenders should have the support of the government.

“On the issue of exemptions, we cannot exempt religious organisations because most of the worship centres are making money.

“We could only exempt Non-Governmental Organisations; however, let’s leave all in the hand of the committee.”

 

Was that all?

No. The Majority Leader of the House, Mr Sanai Agunbiade, said that the bill would repeal the existing laws on land use charge.

The Deputy Speaker of the House, Mr Wasiu Eshinlokun-Sanni, who commended the bill, said that it would help to increase the revenue of the state government.

The Chairman, Adhoc Committee on Budget and Economic Planning, Mr Gbolahan Yishawu, harped on enforcement in collecting the charges.

 

What’s your take?

Lagosians ain’t gonna like this. As it is, most families can barely make ends meet and cost of living keeps rising. Wages and income, on the other hand, are stagnant or on the decrease. Don’t let us start on inflation, which of course rises like… every other day or so it seems.

The result? The real value of money has plummetted and many families are out of cash, which they don’t even have in the first instance.

And let no one argue that the law will affect only landowners, that’s because they will transfer the cost to their tenants; the same ones who are really struggling to afford the most basic of basic necessities like food and clean water.

So oh yes, Lagosians won’t be pleased.