There’ll be hyperinflation in Lagos if land use tax stays — NBA Ikeja Chairman

The Chairman, Nigerian Bar Association, Ikeja Branch, Mr.
Adesina Ogunlana, describes the increased Lagos land use charge as
fraudulent in this interview with TOBI AWORINDE

What are
your thoughts on the new Lagos land use charge?

It is undemocratic. It is arbitrary. It is exploitative. It is
unreasonable. It is unconstitutional to the extent that they are
saying Badagry and Epe will be exempted from the reach of the law;
that is contrary to the constitution. They are putting members of
the state of Lagos into a disadvantage and some to an advantage
simply by reason of geographical location. That is extremely
unfair. It is arbitrary in the sense that the foundation of the
assessment is a sham. It is fraudulent. They just look at people’s
houses. There is no proper assessment and evaluation done. For the
purpose of the LUC, they inflated the value of the property
extensively to a humongous capacity and then they brought the
percentages. That makes it excessive and unreasonable.

Somebody just left my office now. He said up until last year, he
was paying N5,000 on his small bungalow house. Now, they are
charging him N56, 000. How many N5, 000 can you get from N56,000?
Is that 400 per cent? Is that 200 per cent? What about the fellow
who was paying N135, 000 before now but would have to pay N2m? If
this is allowed to stand, it will, out of necessity, lead to a
bandwagon of hyperinflation in all other sectors of the economy in
Lagos State.

Can you compare the previous law on Lagos land use
charge to the new law?

The only thing that has happened now is that the other (old) law
is illegal. The only possible difference now is the fine-tuning of
this law to have wider reach and excessively very high rates.

The state government said the drastic increase in
the LUC is because the state had not reviewed the fees in about 15
years. What do you say to that?

First of all, government is admitting to irresponsibility. If
the law says ‘review every five years’ and you do not review, were
you obeying the law? And what was the reason for the review? Is it
not supposed to obey the principle of gradualism? You didn’t do
that. So, if somebody wakes up and says, ‘In 2002, this plate of
food cost N25, but the cost of N25 now in 2018 is N10,000,
arbitrarily, I will be buying a plate of food at N10,000. Let me
ask, in this recession, even their own workers, when last did they
increase their salaries from the minimum wage? It is not tenable.
It is unacceptable. It is actually irresponsible.

Lagos State Government has been commended by some
stakeholders for reducing the LUC by 50 per cent. Do you think the
state government showed consideration in that
regard?

It is a sham. I will prove to you that the 50 per cent, 25 per
cent and 20 per cent are a sham. Let’s use the example of a
supermarket. The products that are brought from England ought to
have been sold at maybe N85,000, but because they say they are
selling a brand, they now put it at N850,000. Now, Easter is
approaching. They now say, ‘We want to do Easter bonus! We will
slash it by 50 per cent’. So, N850,000 becomes N425,000.

Something that ought not to have cost more than N85,000, you are
still going to be made to pay N425,000. It is a fraud. Look at the
gentleman who was given a bill of N135,000 before 2017, and then
somebody gives him a bill of N2m. They are now talking of 50 per
cent and 25 per cent (reduction). And if it is 25 per cent, the
person will pay N1.5m. If it is 50 per cent, the person will pay
something like N1m. How many N135,000 can you get from N1m? Does it
make sense?

Also, look at the water rates. You are not providing water and
you are asking for a borehole levy of N68,000. You fail to do your
duty as a government to make life more convenient for me. I decide
to provide it for myself and what you do is bring one exorbitant
tax for doing nothing! That is not right. That is why we are not
accepting it. That is why nobody is clapping for them. The (Lagos
State) Chamber of Commerce is not clapping for them. The Nigerian
Bar Association is not clapping for them. Other stakeholders are
not clapping for them.

What is your next plan of action?

When we did the first one (rally), we said the next would be the
second phase of our engagement. We envisaged that it would be a
marathon and we believe it is not a sprint. Rome was not built in a
day. The government decided to come up with this kind of strange,
atrocious levels of taxes, which we in the Ikeja chapter of the NBA
now call Governor Ambode’s Toxic Taxes. We held our press
conference (Wednesday) and announced that the House of Assembly
that is saying it is doing a review based on what the government
has said should not be in a rush. You can’t call people for a
public hearing on legislation without them seeing that
legislation.

They should publish a draft amendment in the newspapers for
Lagosians to read and study. It will take care of all the
suggestions and issues about illegality and all these phantom
evaluations. When you do all that, people will study it and come
with concrete advice, and if you are a government that is willing
to listen to the people, you will then do the needful. Lagosians
are not even against increment in tax, but there are five things
that the tax must obey: the tax must be legal; the tax must be
gradual; the tax must be bearable; the tax must be reasonable; and
the proceeds of the tax must be well utilised.

The Chairman, Nigerian Bar Association, Ikeja Branch, Mr.
Adesina Ogunlana, describes the increased Lagos land use charge as
fraudulent in this interview with TOBI AWORINDE

What are
your thoughts on the new Lagos land use charge?

It is undemocratic. It is arbitrary. It is exploitative. It is
unreasonable. It is unconstitutional to the extent that they are
saying Badagry and Epe will be exempted from the reach of the law;
that is contrary to the constitution. They are putting members of
the state of Lagos into a disadvantage and some to an advantage
simply by reason of geographical location. That is extremely
unfair. It is arbitrary in the sense that the foundation of the
assessment is a sham. It is fraudulent. They just look at people’s
houses. There is no proper assessment and evaluation done. For the
purpose of the LUC, they inflated the value of the property
extensively to a humongous capacity and then they brought the
percentages. That makes it excessive and unreasonable.

Somebody just left my office now. He said up until last year, he
was paying N5,000 on his small bungalow house. Now, they are
charging him N56, 000. How many N5, 000 can you get from N56,000?
Is that 400 per cent? Is that 200 per cent? What about the fellow
who was paying N135, 000 before now but would have to pay N2m? If
this is allowed to stand, it will, out of necessity, lead to a
bandwagon of hyperinflation in all other sectors of the economy in
Lagos State.

Can you compare the previous law on Lagos land use
charge to the new law?

The only thing that has happened now is that the other (old) law
is illegal. The only possible difference now is the fine-tuning of
this law to have wider reach and excessively very high rates.

The state government said the drastic increase in
the LUC is because the state had not reviewed the fees in about 15
years. What do you say to that?

First of all, government is admitting to irresponsibility. If
the law says ‘review every five years’ and you do not review, were
you obeying the law? And what was the reason for the review? Is it
not supposed to obey the principle of gradualism? You didn’t do
that. So, if somebody wakes up and says, ‘In 2002, this plate of
food cost N25, but the cost of N25 now in 2018 is N10,000,
arbitrarily, I will be buying a plate of food at N10,000. Let me
ask, in this recession, even their own workers, when last did they
increase their salaries from the minimum wage? It is not tenable.
It is unacceptable. It is actually irresponsible.

Lagos State Government has been commended by some
stakeholders for reducing the LUC by 50 per cent. Do you think the
state government showed consideration in that
regard?

It is a sham. I will prove to you that the 50 per cent, 25 per
cent and 20 per cent are a sham. Let’s use the example of a
supermarket. The products that are brought from England ought to
have been sold at maybe N85,000, but because they say they are
selling a brand, they now put it at N850,000. Now, Easter is
approaching. They now say, ‘We want to do Easter bonus! We will
slash it by 50 per cent’. So, N850,000 becomes N425,000.

Something that ought not to have cost more than N85,000, you are
still going to be made to pay N425,000. It is a fraud. Look at the
gentleman who was given a bill of N135,000 before 2017, and then
somebody gives him a bill of N2m. They are now talking of 50 per
cent and 25 per cent (reduction). And if it is 25 per cent, the
person will pay N1.5m. If it is 50 per cent, the person will pay
something like N1m. How many N135,000 can you get from N1m? Does it
make sense?

Also, look at the water rates. You are not providing water and
you are asking for a borehole levy of N68,000. You fail to do your
duty as a government to make life more convenient for me. I decide
to provide it for myself and what you do is bring one exorbitant
tax for doing nothing! That is not right. That is why we are not
accepting it. That is why nobody is clapping for them. The (Lagos
State) Chamber of Commerce is not clapping for them. The Nigerian
Bar Association is not clapping for them. Other stakeholders are
not clapping for them.

What is your next plan of action?

When we did the first one (rally), we said the next would be the
second phase of our engagement. We envisaged that it would be a
marathon and we believe it is not a sprint. Rome was not built in a
day. The government decided to come up with this kind of strange,
atrocious levels of taxes, which we in the Ikeja chapter of the NBA
now call Governor Ambode’s Toxic Taxes. We held our press
conference (Wednesday) and announced that the House of Assembly
that is saying it is doing a review based on what the government
has said should not be in a rush. You can’t call people for a
public hearing on legislation without them seeing that
legislation.

They should publish a draft amendment in the newspapers for
Lagosians to read and study. It will take care of all the
suggestions and issues about illegality and all these phantom
evaluations. When you do all that, people will study it and come
with concrete advice, and if you are a government that is willing
to listen to the people, you will then do the needful. Lagosians
are not even against increment in tax, but there are five things
that the tax must obey: the tax must be legal; the tax must be
gradual; the tax must be bearable; the tax must be reasonable; and
the proceeds of the tax must be well utilised.