Press Releases

Land Use Charge: LASG To Constitute An Assessment Appeal Tribunal

Feb 28, 2009 - The Lagos State Government will, in the next 30 days, constitute an Assessment Appeal Tribunal in respect of Land Use Charge in the State, the State Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Mr. Ben Akabueze disclosed at the weekend in Lagos.

Akabueze, who briefed pressmen alongside the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Barrister Opeyemi Bamidele, at the Eko Tourist Resort, Akodo in the Ibeju-Lekki Local Government Area of the State, venue of a three-day Retreat for the State Executive Council and the Body of Permanent Secretaries, said the Assessment Appeal Tribunal would give members of the public a medium of appeal in event of any anomaly in the assessment of land as it concerns them.

Fielding questions on the outcome of the Retreat, Akabueze also disclosed that henceforth, to liberalize access to its land, Government has decided that all transactions on sales of Government land would be done on cash-and-carry basis, adding: “Henceforth as we open up estates, all you have to do is to show up, pay your money and get your land in a simple straightforward transaction”.

The Commissioner also disclosed that the State Government has decided that bills will be dispatched to people whose properties have been enumerated for land use charge by the end of this month, adding that Government will henceforth make sure that people who pay for any service, be it land or tax, will get their receipt or electronic tax clearance certificate (in respect of tax) within 72 hours.

He said the Retreat was all about improving service delivery to the people of Lagos State adding that the intention was to find better ways to serve the citizenry.

“This Retreat is about improving service delivery to our customers, because we consider the citizenry whom we have the privilege to serve as our customers. We are desirous of finding ways of serving them better”, Akabueze said.

According to him, “This is a listening Government. That is why we have put our e-mail addresses and phone numbers in the public domain so that people will give us feedback on how well or otherwise we are serving them”.

Describing the Retreat as an on-going process, Akabueze said it would reconvene on a date not too far from now to continue deliberations on other agencies of government, adding, “It has been a tedious exercise evaluating these agencies. We have only been able to conclude deliberations on a few agencies. As we go through the rest of the service and take decisions, we are going to put these decisions in the public domain”.

The Commissioner said the Government was satisfied that its projects are making good progress, pointing out that in 2008, the administration awarded close to 800 contracts. “That is a good achievement even if we are the ones saying so. But more importantly, we are staying on top of those projects to make sure that they are delivered”, the Commissioner said adding that awarding contract was the easy part while the real challenge lay in ensuring execution.

According to the Commissioner, “We have reinforced our monitoring mechanism and this government is committed that there will be no abandoned project. This Government will not start any project it cannot and will not finish”.

Also speaking at the briefing, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Barrister Opeyemi Bamidele, said the essence of the Retreat was to allow major stakeholders in Government to review Government performance and project into the future.

Barrister Bamidele, who described the Retreat as ‘a time well spent’, declared: “The essence of the retreat is to allow the major stakeholders in Government – the State Executive Council, the Body of Permanent Secretaries, Special Advisers – to come together and do something like a midterm review of where we stand, what we have done so far and to project into the near future of what is going to be happening beyond now”.

He said during the three days serious and sober reflections, decisions also emerged, some having to do with immediate actions to be taken while some were for medium term and others for long term actions.

“We are excited by the level of performance assessment that we have and the kind of report from every agency of Government. For us, it is not about what we have achieved but what is in stock for the people of Lagos State in the near future. The far-reaching decisions we have taken will enhance service delivery to our customers”, the Commissioner said.

According to the Commissioner, such far reaching decisions cover areas like Taxation, and Revenue Generation, Land Use Act and Land Allocation as well as Land Use Charges, adding, “I really believe that things will never be the same. This landmark decisions will make a lot of difference within the next few weeks and months”.