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Governor Akinwunmi Ambode has said it was high time Lagosians voluntarily carried out their civil responsibilities by ensuring prompt payment of their taxes irrespective of their income.
The governor explain that the state needs the funds to accelerate development and also address the myriads of challenges confronting it.
The governor spoke at a workshop on this year’s Water Technology and Environmental Control Exhibition and Conference (WATEC) in Ikeja, the state capital.
In his words: “If out of a population of 22 million, only 600,000 Lagos residents are up-to-date in paying their taxes, such will not help to scale up provision of infrastructure and other amenities for the people.”
The governor therefore urged Lagosians to be tax compliant if they truly want a better Lagos.
Responding to a suggestion that the state government should complete the shoreline protection, particularly in Lekki and Ajah to mitigate the impact of torrential rainfalls causing floods in the areas, Ambode said government’s plan was being inhibited by its limited resources.
He said: “Talking about protecting our shoreline, I want to tell you something. The Ecological Fund that someone talked about does not exist because the previous government, due to political consideration, never gave Lagos anything. Protecting the shoreline runs into billions.
“Disallowing the water to break cost a lot of money. Then, with frozen taxes in the last eight to 10 years, there has not been any increase in taxes.”