Land Use Charge: Agbaje’s firm owes Lagos N1.6m tax —Fashola

LAGOS —THE Lagos State governor, Mr Babatunde
Fashola, SAN, yesterday, accused Jaykay
Pharmacy, owned and managed by the
governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic
Party, PDP, Mr. Jimi Agbaje of owing the state
N1.6 million as unpaid land use charges.
But in a swift reaction, Mr Agbaje faulted the
claims made by the governor that his company
defaulted in the payment of the land use charge.
Fashola
Agbaje reacts
Reacting to the allegation, Agbaje said the governor
lied, saying “I have even been commended for
paying my Land Use Charge on time.”
Fashola made the disclosure at the 8th Annual
Lagos State taxation Stakeholders’ Conference held
in Ikeja.
Fashola, who explained that Land Use Charge, LUC,
was a consolidated tax combining ground rent and
tenement rate, said: “Tax is prescribed by the
1999 constitution. It states that it shall be the duty
of every citizen to declare its income to the
appropriate and lawful agency; and pay the
required tax promptly.”
Accusing Agbaje’s pharmacy of defaulting in the
payment of land use charge to the coffers of the
state, the governor said, “you will remember that in
2007, he (Jimi Agbaje) claimed that he was in
Democratic People’s Alliance, DPA and later
crossed to PDP. You know that he (Agbaje)
manages a pharmacy called Jaykay Pharmacy,
located at 9, Randle Close, Apapa Local
Government. His pharmacy has not paid Land Use
Charge for 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012
respectively; it amounts to N1, 629, 064.62.”
Speaking further, he said; “let us do that
mathematics to see how many facilities the fund
would have provided in our hospitals and
stationery in our schools. But this was the same
person who was complaining that the state
government spent three per cent of its budget on
Primary education. Local Government is
responsible for the management of the primary
schools and yet he has withheld their taxes.”
The governor declared that the pharmacy paid LUC
in 2013 and 2014 because the management and
the candidate of the PDP realized that the election
would be holding in 2015.
Fashola said: “I know that you have to vote next
month but look at that candidate that would need
to take over from me and be careful of who you
vote for. This is the man who wants to be your
next governor. I will advice you that you avoid
deception and tax evaders.”
Explaining the importance of taxation, the governor
said: “The payment of tax is the first principle of
the social contracts between the government and
the citizens. It is an irreducible legal minimum of
citizenship and breach of this responsibility is a
criminal offence under our law.”
In addition, he said: “All those who have paid their
taxes have shown that they are lawful citizens.
Anyone who has failed to pay tax is a bad citizen.
He is also a cheat, such a person benefits from the
commonwealth-the roads, hospitals and other
facilities provided by funds generated from taxes
paid by the residents.”
Lagos Chief Judge on tax cases
Meantime, the Chief Judge of the state, Justice
Oluwafunmilayo Atilade has disclosed that 600 tax
cases were prosecuted in year 2014.
Atilade said: “We dealt with 600 cases, but the
important thing with these cases was that it
showed increase in compliance.”
She noted that some of the cases were not
completed because the defaulters complied, saying
“the prosecution led to the recovery of hundreds of
millions for the state government.”
Notable personalities present at the conference
include the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu 1,
former Minister of Industry, Dr. Onikepo Akande
among others.