Press Releases

Taxation: Fashola Says No Intention To Tax Churches

May 29, 2009 - Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), Friday cleared the air on the misrepresentations in the purported imposition of tax on religious organizations in the State, saying, there is no intention by the State Government to tax churches in the State.

Governor Fashola, who made the clarification while fielding questions from newsmen at a World Press Conference to mark his second year in office at the Banquet Hall of the Lagos House, explained that the State Government only sought obedience to an already existing Federal law that religious leaders should pay tax from the personal income they earn from their activities.

“The point here is that religious leaders are not different from you or me. If they earn income from that activity, it is only meet and proper that they remit to the commonwealth, to the common pool and to the common developmental resources from which they benefit”.

Explaining further, the Governor said, “They use the roads, their children use the schools, their wives use the markets, they use water, they enjoy the benefits of the security that we provide”, adding that people should not get emotional about the issue.

Acknowledging that the Constitution exempted the Churches from taxation, the Governor pointed out that the courts have ruled at a time that if a church has property which it rents out and from which it earns income, it should pay tax from such earning, adding, “I also want to make the point clearly, we did not make the law. It is a Federal Government Law, but it is a law that we are empowered to implement just like the Income Tax Law”.

Debunking the allegation that the plan was targeted at a particular religion, Governor Fashola declared, “I cannot even successfully do it. Here I am, a Muslim, my father is a Muslim, my mother is Anglican, my wife is Catholic and my siblings are of the Pentecostal faith”, adding that the issue must be separated from sentiment and emotion.

Advising any aggrieved person to seek redress formally through the courts, Governor Fashola, however, advised the agencies of Government responsible for implementing the law to be civil and humane. “We will not always be in the places when the law is being implemented. We urge our officers to act in the most civil and humane manner to ensure that people comply”, he advised.

The Governor reiterated his position on the proposed amendment of the Land Use Act, saying though he is not opposed to Land Reforms, he does not support the proposal to amend the Act.

Urging the reform of the administrative practices instead of repealing the Act, Governor Fashola stressed that practices associated with the Act such as Registration of Title Law have nothing to do with the Act itself, adding, “It was not fixed by the Land Use Act. It is a law that existed before the Land Use Act”.

Pointing out that there was nothing wrong with paying fees for registration of title on land, Governor Fashola said, “If you can pay the CSCS fee for security of your share, it is the same as paying the Registration of Title fee to the Land Registrar who secures your title”.

“But, I must say, it is an issue that we will continue to engage. We are not saying that all is well. The message there is that we are not convinced that this is the solution, and until we explore an alternative solution, like creating long-term funding, to look at the cost of cement, the cost of iron rod and all of those things, we really may be courting crisis”, he said.

The Governor also reiterated his position on the issue of State Police saying, “It is no longer a question of if but a question of when”. According to the Governor, “We cannot continue to implement policies that history and experience have shown that it is not efficient and refuse to change it and expect it to work”.

Citing the developments in other jurisdictions of the world, Governor Fashola pointed out that even those who wrote the Constitution of the country, at the time they were writing it recognized that there was need for State laws by creating such laws and queried why they did not see the need to create the police for the states to enforce their own laws.

“And that is how it is happening everywhere. They even have police at the local government levels. They have responsibilities. And therefore, we must start now to do what is right. We must not continue to dig in a hole, we must start coming out. We must begin to dare. We must begin to try new things”, the Governor urged, saying it would not benefit the country to continue to insist on a policy that would not move it forward.

On the joint military police patrol in the State, Governor Fashola who acknowledged that the military has the Constitutional responsibility to protect the nation from internal and external aggression, pointed out that the military also assist in areas of violent crime.

“You don’t ask soldiers to go to police stations”, the Governor said pointing out that the idea of a joint patrol only arose out of the need to combat a violent crime situation in the State. “It has been a useful partnership and we will continue to make the best of it”, he said.

He said it is not true that small and medium scale industries in the State are packing up because of lack of constant power supply, pointing out that the State’s Skill Acquisition Programme has boosted rather than weakened the sector.

The Governor, however, acknowledged that the problem of power supply would reduce the operational power of the industries and increase their operational cost, but said using the services provided by the State, the goods they produce would become cheaper and cost effective in the local and even in the export market.

“But as a Government, we are studying the situation very critically. You are aware that there was IPP during the tenure of my predecessor and that IPP is still supplying 270 Megawatts of electricity to the National Grid”, the Governor said, adding that that power is not dedicated to Lagos State but instead the State is made to pay N250 million deducted every month from its statutory allocation.

On the Niger Delta issue and its effect on the supply of fuel and gas, especially as it concerns the proposed Light Rail Transportation System by the State Government, Governor Fashola, who described the situation in the region as a sad development, said the problem that the nation must begin to contend with is that the whole world is looking for alternative sources of energy which would definitely and sooner than later make oil irrelevant as a source of energy.

“The new problem is that whether or not oil sells for N1.00, it is going to be in lesser demand in the next few years. People may not want it anymore, so we need to move and prepare the new order, the world without oil”, he warned.

On whether or not he intends to run for a second term in 2011, Governor Fashola, who likened his second term to a half-time in a football match said it was not time yet to make such a decision, adding, “We want to remain focused to deliver the greatest benefit to the greatest number of people”.

He said the State Government would replicate what it did in Oshodi in other blighted settlements in the State by providing them with modern facilities adding, “What we want to do is to find a way to re-plan those communities. We cannot wish them away”.

On the proposed Fourth Mainland Bridge, the Governor said it had been slowed down as a result of the fact that the Government and the consultants had to go back to the table to straighten some issues, adding that the two would meet in the next two weeks to iron out the grey areas.

He said the State Government is also committed to tapping the Tourism potentials of the State for the improvement of the economy but added that the Government is also conscious of the importance of building access routes to the Tourism Centres.

“That is why we have started with the roads. The roads must be built in order that people can get to the centres. That is the philosophy, to take people to the destinations, otherwise nothing you build there will work”, he said

Also present at the occasion were the Deputy Governor, Princess Adebisi Sosan, the Secretary to the State Government, Princess Adenrele Ogunsanya, members of the State Executive Council, Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Barrister Opeyemi Bamidele and other members of the State Executive Council, members of the State House of Assembly, Traditional Rulers, Captains of industries and Media Executives as well as other top Government functionaries.