At the 5th Edition of the Lagos state Corporate Assembly tagged "A+ MEETS BUSINESS" that was held at the State House, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria on Thursday, 18th of February, 2016, the captains of industries and members of the Organized Private Sector(OPS) have cried out over multiple levies being collected from them by officials of Local Governments Councils in Lagos, Saying the levies disturbs and hamper their businesses. This came before Governor Ambode promised to streamline all levies collected by LGs in the state in order to curb harassment of the OPS by council officials.
The President Lagos chamber of Commerces and Industry, LCCI, Nike Akande, also lamented that the multiplicity of levies and fees collected by the LGs in Lagos state is too much, and she also buttress it that the manner in which it is being collected is frustrating and annoying. " we have issues with the manners in which the local government councils manage this aspect of their functions".
There are concerns about the method, the process and Transparency. there are several instances of arbitrariness in the imposition of levies. most often, these are at variance with approved rates. Some specific examples are:"Many organisations have suffered embarrassment following demands by Local council officials for Radio and Television permit and this comes with lots of arbitrariness with rates ranging from N50,000 to N200,000 per annum. Another issue is the Parking permit which differs from ranges of N100,000 to N500,000 per annum depending on the location and number of parking lots for the organization. There are instances where both the local government and the state government officials make demands on the same companies for parking fees. For companies in the small and medium enterprise categories, these demands could be so worrisome and burdensome.
Mrs Akande further appeals to the governor that "we appreciate the fact that the state government does not have direct responsibilities for the administration of local governments but we believe you can prevail on them for moderation of the fees, streamlining of the levies/permits and proper coordination between the states and local councils and information on approved rates and fees should be widely publicized to curb abuses, corruption and also allow for better planning by businesses"
She also lamented on the issue of movement of deliver vans, she said the situation is so bad that so of these vehicles carry as many as 13 stickers on their windscreens and that there are too many permits and licenses to be obtained. Ranging from:
1. Lagos drivers Institute License
2. Drivers license by the Road Safety
3. Local Government Permit
4. Hackney Permit and dual Carriage
5. Vehicles License
6. certificate of Road Worthiness
7. Barge Permit, Conductor's Barge
8. Vehicle Identification tag
9. Vehicle Radio and Television Permit
10. Vehicle Outdoor Mobile Environmental Sanitation Permit
11. Nigerian Police Emblem
12. Lagos state consolidated Emblem
13. Ministry of Transport Certification(MOT).
The LCCI president said "the copious permits and licenses will certainly create compliance problem. this has therefore created a problem of logistics for companies operating in the state, most of which are SMEs. The result of this scenario is that many of the delivery vans would not go out of the factory gates until very late in the day when they would be sure that the VIOs, Road Safety, Lastma and the LG officials have closed for the day."
The chairman of manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Man, apapa branch, Mr Babatunde Odunayo also lamented about the harassment by the LG officials who used touts to collect all manner of illegal levies from them under duress. "There is a cry as to who will save us from LG personnel and the highways. They extort us so much. we recognise that these permits are for revenue generation, but touts generate these permits and don't remit it to the state or local government pocket" he said.
Odunayo appealed to Ambode to allow his government work with LG to fashion out a blueprint for better collection of levies at the grassroots because the SME are suffering and the masses are complaining, rather than being harassed by touts and LG officials.
Our correspondence were able to meet with some of the OPS members after the event who suggested that if the local government election is conducted in the state, the local councils will be able to function very well and the issue of multiplication of levies being charged by LGs in the state might be addressed and corrected in some areas because the other political parties too will be able to win some local government areas.
The President Lagos chamber of Commerces and Industry, LCCI, Nike Akande, also lamented that the multiplicity of levies and fees collected by the LGs in Lagos state is too much, and she also buttress it that the manner in which it is being collected is frustrating and annoying. " we have issues with the manners in which the local government councils manage this aspect of their functions".
There are concerns about the method, the process and Transparency. there are several instances of arbitrariness in the imposition of levies. most often, these are at variance with approved rates. Some specific examples are:"Many organisations have suffered embarrassment following demands by Local council officials for Radio and Television permit and this comes with lots of arbitrariness with rates ranging from N50,000 to N200,000 per annum. Another issue is the Parking permit which differs from ranges of N100,000 to N500,000 per annum depending on the location and number of parking lots for the organization. There are instances where both the local government and the state government officials make demands on the same companies for parking fees. For companies in the small and medium enterprise categories, these demands could be so worrisome and burdensome.
Mrs Akande further appeals to the governor that "we appreciate the fact that the state government does not have direct responsibilities for the administration of local governments but we believe you can prevail on them for moderation of the fees, streamlining of the levies/permits and proper coordination between the states and local councils and information on approved rates and fees should be widely publicized to curb abuses, corruption and also allow for better planning by businesses"
She also lamented on the issue of movement of deliver vans, she said the situation is so bad that so of these vehicles carry as many as 13 stickers on their windscreens and that there are too many permits and licenses to be obtained. Ranging from:
1. Lagos drivers Institute License
2. Drivers license by the Road Safety
3. Local Government Permit
4. Hackney Permit and dual Carriage
5. Vehicles License
6. certificate of Road Worthiness
7. Barge Permit, Conductor's Barge
8. Vehicle Identification tag
9. Vehicle Radio and Television Permit
10. Vehicle Outdoor Mobile Environmental Sanitation Permit
11. Nigerian Police Emblem
12. Lagos state consolidated Emblem
13. Ministry of Transport Certification(MOT).
The LCCI president said "the copious permits and licenses will certainly create compliance problem. this has therefore created a problem of logistics for companies operating in the state, most of which are SMEs. The result of this scenario is that many of the delivery vans would not go out of the factory gates until very late in the day when they would be sure that the VIOs, Road Safety, Lastma and the LG officials have closed for the day."
The chairman of manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Man, apapa branch, Mr Babatunde Odunayo also lamented about the harassment by the LG officials who used touts to collect all manner of illegal levies from them under duress. "There is a cry as to who will save us from LG personnel and the highways. They extort us so much. we recognise that these permits are for revenue generation, but touts generate these permits and don't remit it to the state or local government pocket" he said.
Odunayo appealed to Ambode to allow his government work with LG to fashion out a blueprint for better collection of levies at the grassroots because the SME are suffering and the masses are complaining, rather than being harassed by touts and LG officials.
Our correspondence were able to meet with some of the OPS members after the event who suggested that if the local government election is conducted in the state, the local councils will be able to function very well and the issue of multiplication of levies being charged by LGs in the state might be addressed and corrected in some areas because the other political parties too will be able to win some local government areas.
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