Press Releases

Fashola Identifies Priorities For 2009, Thanks Lagosians For Increased Tax Compliance

Jan 30, 2009 - Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), Friday identified poverty alleviation, infrastructural renewal and economic development and prosperity of Lagos and Lagosians as the priority of his administration in 2009.

Governor Fashola who addressed Government House Correspondents at the Adeyemi –Bero Auditorium after the last quarter review of the 2008 Budget by the State Executive Council, said focus would be on the building and rehabilitation of more roads, more markets and more healthcare facilities in the State.

“Our core priority remains the implementation of the Budget for poverty alleviation, economic development and prosperity of Lagos and Lagosians, keeping in focus and continuing our plans of infrastructural renewal on the general basis, building more roads, more markets and building more healthcare facilities”, the Governor said.

According to him, the Government would also encourage Local Government Chairmen to focus more on improving and building primary healthcare centres and facilities in their councils to sustain the healthcare delivery of the State Government at the grassroots.

“At the State level, we intend to go closer and deeper to the ordinary people in focusing on our rural development programmes and putting money into peoples’ pockets with our micro-finance scheme. We will be focusing more attention on healthcare for children and women, Education, Sports, Vocational and Skills training facilities”, Governor Fashola said.

He reiterated that his administration intends to put in peoples’ hands those skills and services that they would go away with and become self-supporting and self-sustaining, adding, “The notion and idea of the absence of poverty is not necessarily because there is wealth, but because people are able to self-support themselves and sustain themselves. That is what we want to achieve”.

On the performance of the 2008 Budget christened Great Leap Budget, Governor Fashola, who said the Budget achieved 71.5 per cent performance, declared, “We have done much and we plan to do more this year. We are inspired by what we have achieved and we will not rest on our oars. The result of that performance is there for all to see”, adding that the government would remain focused to take the performance to a higher level this year

Governor Fashola, who attributed much of the achievement of the 2008 Budget to the increasing voluntary payment of taxes by residents, declared, “We thank Lagosians for the support we have had so far, the increasing compliance in tax payment, and the voluntary payment of taxes. It has made tax easier to collect. Therefore, our expenditure in going to chase people is being well managed and put to other resources”.

He expressed joy that “people are increasingly becoming aware that the road to prosperity is that road in which people pay taxes and sacrifice and commit to the government they elected”, adding, “It is not enough to expect that only civil servants and those who work in companies which are under the P.A.Y.E. should continue to bear the tax burden of all of us”.

“And, therefore, all of the doctors, the accountants, the architects, the lawyers, the estate valuers, the middle and small-scale enterprises who benefit from anything we do in Lagos, must come into the tax regime. Clearly, without increasing taxes, if more people pay taxes voluntarily, we will get more money”, the Governor said pointing out that the whole idea was to increase the number of people that pay tax rather than put the burden on public servants whose taxes are deducted at source or private companies who are within the tax system and whose taxes are also deducted from source.

Appealing to more professionals and middle and small scale entrepreneurs and all order individuals and organizations doing business in the State who is not yet tax compliant, to do so, Governor Fashola declared, “We need more of these professionals and medium and small scale enterprises to voluntarily assist us so that together we will share this commonwealth for the benefit of all”.

Also fielding questions on the performance of the Budget, the State Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Mr. Ben Akabueze said despite the 71. 5 per cent performance achieved by the 2008 Budget, the aim was to take the performance to the 90 per cent mark as the Governor had always insisted.

“We have reviewed what we have done in 2008 and told ourselves that we can do better and we resolve to do that in 2009”, the Commissioner said, adding that the meeting looked into the performance of all the areas of the economy and how to improve on the performance in 2009.

On the payment of taxes in the State, Akabueze said the present administration insists that everyone who benefits from what is being done in the State must contribute to the development of the State no matter where such a person comes from.

“This is a government that wants to hold itself accountable to the people and the only way to do it is to get people to pay their taxes. When people pay tax, they will have the feeling that they have a stake in governance and they can hold the Government accountable”, he said.

He said Government has not increased and has no intention of increasing the tax rate in the State, adding, “Government is simply asking people to voluntarily pay their taxes regardless of whatever part of the country or world they come from, provided they reside and earn their living in Lagos State”.