Lagos Landlord Laments N4.4m Land Use Bill

Segun Atanda/

A landlord in Lagos today lamented a N4.4 million bill he received from the state government as land use charge for the current year.

The house owner, who expressed his frustration in a chat with NewsmakersNG, said he could not fathom how the state government arrived at such an incredible figure.

He showed NewsmakersNG a copy of the bill dated March 30, 2018 and titled, “Land Use Charge: First Notice for Year 2018 (Annual Bill)”.

He said the bill could also rise to N8.9 million if not paid on time.

According to him, too many things are wrong in the newly-introduced charge but the most disturbing is the total lack of input by residents of the state.

He said he did not understand how the government could unilaterally value his house at N588 million and proceed to use the figure as basis for calculating how much he is liable to pay.

He said he might resolve to relocating from Lagos if he could no longer withstand the pressure from the government owing multiple taxation.

His words: “How are we sure the tenants pay as much rent as demanded of a landlord for Land Use of N4 million to N5 million in a year? Even it can be N8.9 million if not paid on time.

“It has no explanation at all. It (the property) is even coded residential. How many landlords have that kind of money in Lagos?

“They put the market value at N588 million plus. Who valued It? Can Lagos State government buy it if offered for sale? It think it is time to relocate.”

He lauded the decision by a branch of the Nigeria Bar Association and some civil society groups to stage a public protest against the bill.

“Thank God NBA Ikeja Branch spoke (against it) today,” he added.

Meanwhile, prominent Nigerians have been raising their voice against the implementation of the new Land Use Charge Law.

Professor Olugbenga Ogunmoyela told NewsmakersNG: “My grouse with all of this Land Use Charge brouhaha is simply whether it is conceivable that in a saner society you can have a law passed in February and made effective immediately, especially when people are still not out of the woods with recession; tenants are not paying their rents, prices have gone out of the roof, building projects are simply becoming harder and harder with our inflationary economy, businesses are finding it very hard to pay salaries and so on and so forth! And Nobody seems to care! Even Brexit which was decided by a referendum since 2016 is yet to take effect. But what do we see in Nigeria time and time again? Politicians and Civil Servants who are totally disconnected from the public reality!

“Does government not expect people to plan their personal finances? Is that not part of the social contract? We have had enough of government officials taking the people for a ride in this country. Remember the plate number change ultimatum by the FRSC which was eventually annulled by the courts after causing so much panic, or the attempt by the Customs to suddenly begin public inspection of duty receipts on vehicles on the roads until they were stopped by the courts? There are so many examples of how government has disrespected the rights of its citizenry in this country and continues to do so without remorse. It is time to rise and not only use our votes in 2019 but also to resist this continuous exploitation of the people by governments elected by the people for the people at both Federal and State levels.

“I am personally appalled by the direction of the arguments in favor of immediate implementation of this new Land Use Law. Even if it is only one naira difference, we the people demand that it cannot be right or even sane to justify the implementation of this law without due notice. The only way out is for government to wait until 2019! God bless Nigeria, God bless Lagos State.”

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