Only 600,000 out of 22m Lagosians Pay Tax—Ambode Laments

July 13, 2017
Only 600,000 out of 22m Lagosians Pay Tax—Ambode Laments

Only 600,000 out of 22m Lagosians Pay Tax—Ambode Laments

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State has lamented the low tax compliance rate in the state, revealing that out of the 22 million living in the aquatic city, only 600,000 of them pay tax to the government.

Mr Ambode said this has frustrated the government in providing basic amenities and infrastructure to residents of the state.

He noted that residents need to adopt a wilful approach to the payment of taxes as a means of addressing fundamental challenges confronting the state and accelerating development in all sectors and sections.

The Governor, who was responding to a suggestion from a participant at a workshop in Ikeja, the state capital, that the state government should complete the ongoing shoreline protection particularly in the Lekki and Ajah axis as one of the ways to mitigate the impact of torrential rainfalls which caused flooding in the axis last week, pointed out that in as much as government was willing to do such, it was being inhibited by its limited resources.

Mr Ambode made this known at a sensitization workshop on 2017 Water Technology and Environmental Control Exhibition and Conference (WATEC).

“Talking about protecting our shoreline, I want to tell you something. The ecological fund that someone talked about does not exist because the previous government, due to political consideration, never gave Lagos anything and protecting the shoreline runs into billions.

“Even doing those groins not to allow the water to break cost a lot of money and then with frozen taxes in the last eight to ten years, there has not been any increase in taxes unlike in the United Kingdom for instance where any young person living there knows that once you start working at the age of 18, your civic obligation is that you must pay tax but here nobody takes it as their business that the new road I am using I need to pay something and so they only pay tax when they are inside the real tax net that is you are paying pay as you earn.

“That is the only way we can catch you and so everybody takes it for granted that government will do it and there is nothing like government money, it is taxes that people are paying that you are asking for this shoreline protection, it is from the taxes that you are asking for us to de-flood, it is from the taxes that you are asking for us to do the roads and all that.

“The number of people paying taxes in Lagos is less than 600,000 people and we are 22 million and then 67 percent of the people living in Lagos are below the age of 35 and even the retirees, how much are they paying? They are on pension. So, you have to go through your nose and you want to be as compassionate as possible that in a recession, you don’t overtax people,” he said at the event.

The Governor said it was time for a convergence between civic obligations and the ability of government to build trust by using taxes of citizens judiciously, just assured that his administration, within the available resources, would continue to invest in infrastructure and deliver good governance to make life comfortable and easier for the people.

“What I am saying is that there must be a convergence between civic obligations and the ability of government to build trust and be able to tell people that you know what, the little that you are giving me, I will use it judiciously. When I use it judiciously and you see it overtime, trust me, if you pay more, I will do more.

“Obviously, the vision is there, the plan is there but again it is not driven by anything than the citizens themselves and the area that we need improvement is for citizens to have trust or confidence that the taxes they are paying will be returned back in terms of infrastructure but I can tell you that I am also concerned; I see a lot of things I don’t like but I am inhibited by the amount of money I have,” Governor Ambode said.

Modupe Gbadeyanka

Modupe Gbadeyanka is a fast-rising journalist with Business Post Nigeria. Her passion for journalism is amazing. She is willing to learn more with a view to becoming one of the best pen-pushers in Nigeria. Her role models are the duo of CNN's Richard Quest and Christiane Amanpour.

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