Lagos Reverses 2018 Land Use Charge, Waives N5.6bn Penalties
Lagos State Government on Wednesday reversed the 2018 Land Use Charge and reverted to pre-2018 Land Use Charges method of valuation.
The state government disclosed this at a press conference addressed by the state’s commissioner for Finance, Dr. Rabiu Olowo at the Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre Secretariat located in Alausa area of the state.
Flanked by his counterpart in the Ministry of Information and Strategy, Mr. Gbenga Omotoso, The Finance Commissioner said the state government has waived N5.6 billion penalties for those who defaulted in payment of land use charge for the years 2017, 2018 and 2019, which according to the commissioner translates to a loss of revenue to the state.
Olowo said the new Land Use Charge Law 2020 is a product of a series of stakeholders meetings and is designed to accommodate the agitations of Lagosians and reduce the financial pressure on citizens as it relates to Land Use.
The new law according to him reduces the penalties for defaulters from between 25 to 100 per cent to 10 to 50 per cent, there is also a 48 per cent reduction in the annual charge rates for different properties.
“Still on reductions, another major sector that had its charge reduced is the Agricultural sector, whose annual charge rate for Agricultural land was reduced from 0.076 per cent to 0.01 per cent. This is an 87 per cent reduction from the old rate”.
The government further re-introduced the 15 per cent early payment discount which has been increased by a 10 per cent special COVID-19 incentive making it 25 per cent when payment is paid before the due date.
Unlike in the 2018 law pensioners now include retirees from private and public institutions in the state “or any person that has attained the age of sixty (60) years and has ceased to be actively engaged in any activity or business for remuneration”, and their properties are exempted from paying land use charge.
Also “profit-oriented cemeteries and burial grounds are no longer exempted from payment of Land Use Charge”, the same thing goes for private libraries.’’
It would be recalled that the land use charge was increased via a law under the administration of Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode and it generated a lot of heat among residents with widespread protest against the increase to the seat of power in Alausa, as residents rejected the outrageous increase.
