Kogi: Uproar over property charges

Recently, Kogi state government took a drastic decision to introduce property and land use charge across the state. In this piece, OYIBO SALIHU takes a look at the public outcry that has greeted the decision

Although the law provides property and land use charges, due to  free  funds accruing to states and local governments from the federation account , such sources of generating revenue was abandoned by past  Kogi state governments.

Apparently, the recent recession in Nigeria occasioned by the sharp fall in the price of crude oil and the dwindling federal allocation to the two tiers of government had pushed  both states and the local government to look inward in search of revenue to compliment federal allocation to enable them fulfill their campaign promises to the electorate.
In Kogi state however, the drive for improve revenue generation made the state Governor Alhaji Yahaya Bello, to hastened the construction of revenue house worth several millions of naira within his one year in office to create an enabling environment for the Kogi state internal revenue service to improve in its  revenue generation.

Still part of the effort by the revenue agency to meet the 9 billion naira target given to it by the state government was the recent introduction of Property and Land Use Levy.
This recent development in the act of improving revenue generation had so far created divergent opinions among residents of the state, majority of whom expressed rage saying the government is insensitive to the current hardships faced by the people.

While some pundits are of the view that government have come out with another  strategy to  impoverish the already poor citizens, some blamed the government for not implementing the tax regime to enable it tackle the high level of infrastructure decay in the state.
But, in the statement of the director of legal services, Kogi state internal revenue service, Mallam Isah Jamir , said the  introduction of  the property and Land Use Charge in the state will  further boost the revenues accruing to it.

He however said the poor and vulnerable in the state would not be affected by the development as any house valued below N1 million would not pay the tax.
Jamir, said this at a one day sensitisation seminar organised in conjunction with David Gold and Company for administrators of local government on property tax , said  the state was already compiling a bill to be sent to the state house of assembly to provide for a single and consolidated tax on property that would be called Land Use Charge.

He disclosed that the new arrangement would enable the state and local government areas to harmonise the existing tenement rate and the ground rent under one system to be coordinated and collected by the state government.
Jamir further noted that the state had proposed that commercial properties would pay 0.35 percent of the total valuation of the property per annum, industrial premises 0.25 percent and privately owned residential building would pay 0.20 percent as land use charge.

He however explained that palaces of traditional rulers, churches, mosques and charitable structures would be exempted from the new tax system, adding that the new arrangement would commence with the counting, enumeration and registration of the houses to be carried out by people to be employed on the basis of 10 per each of the 210 wards across the state.

Also commenting , Dr David Aheruvoh Gold,   a tax consultant to Kogi State Internal Revenue Service  reminisced that property tax is a form of levy imposed on property owners by government within their jurisdiction based on value of such property,  elucidated that the practice predates era of civilisation.

The Accountant further submitted that for citizens to be assertive in demanding for basic infrastructural amenities, conscious effort must be made by them to discharge their civic responsibility of tax payment in order to expeditiously tackle the perennial infrastructural decay of the state.

Enumerating the expected benefits if the tax sailed through, the consultant noted that besides infrastructural revamping, tax payers will be registered with the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), multiple job creation and establishment of viable data base which could be used for global positioning system.
In  the statement of Barrister Mohammed Anda Usman,  the success of the property tax in Kogi state solely depend on the commitment of consultant who will be saddled with the responsibility of creating an enabling environment for  collecting the tax.

Usman averred that very skilled personnel are needed to carry out the enumeration exercise, stressing that  the failure of using competent manpower may greatly affects the accuracy of collected data.
According to him “Lack of skilled manpower can leads to under-valuation   reducing government’s revenue as  over-assessment may equally  resulted into endless disputes that can hamper  payment of property taxes.

That is why there is every need for the appropriate authority concern not to minimize the cost of employing manpower otherwise the effort will be in vain”
Barrister Usman who also did the legal frame work of the property taxes , said it obviously imperative for the state government to approach the state house of assembly for appropriate legal documents  to back up its activities, saying anything short of that may also render the exercise null and void in case of litigation.

“It is an open secret that many houses in the state do not have Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) which invariably may constitute a cog in the wheel of the success of the property tax regime. Therefore, the government and the KGIRS have a lot to put in place before meeting the tax payers”
In his opinion, a retired local government civil servant Mr Peter Bello from Ofu Local Government Area of the state , said government supposed to have consider the current economic situation where many people can hardly eat two square meals per day before thinking of imposing tax on the people.

According to him “The current economic recession may hinder many people from paying property tax. How can you approach someone who cannot pay his children school fees to pay tax for his house? This   is going to be a Herculean task on the side of the government and the agents concern”

Also commenting on the new development in the state, another resident of Lokoja , the state capital Alhaji Abdulrahman Yesuf , said if the state government can use the tax to transform the state from its present precarious situation,  the property and land use charge is a welcome development, but  charged the local government administrators in the 21 councils of the state  to involved in vigorous campaign aimed at sensitizing the rural dwellers on the needs and importance of the tax.

Apparently, the success of property tax in Kogi state depends on the level of sensitization embarked upon by the state government considering the high level of illiteracy and ignorance in the state especially at the rural areas where such intention are being view as a taboo against their culture.

More so and the to a great extent, the affected individuals may also not see the importance of the tax especially now that a lot of people have lost faith in government, but if government can judiciously utilize the proceeds from the tax in providing infrastructure development and the basic needs of the people, the success of the property tax in Kogi state may not be too difficult to achieve.
It is obvious that the state government is hell-bent on implementing property tax across the state, however, it is also incumbent for the government to avoid taking the wrong steps in the interest of the state.

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