Osun stakeholders advocate payment of Tenement rate & Land use charge

Stakeholders on land matters in Osun State have appealed to citi­zenry to co-operate with the state government in the payment of tenement rate and land use charge in a bid to increase Internally Generated Revenue.

They made the remarks on Tuesday at a public hearing on Land Use Charge Bill organised by the state House of Assem­bly in Osogbo.

The bill is seeking for a law to make provision for the consolidation of all property and land-based rates and charges payable under the Land Rate Law, the Neighbourhood Im­provement Charge Law and Tenement rates Law in the state.

It is seeking to incorpo­rate the proposed law into a new Land-based charge, to be called Property Land Use charge to make provi­sion for the levying and collection of the charge and for connected purpos­es.

The bill has passed through the second read­ing before the parliament.

The Speaker, Honour­able Najeem Salaam said the bill if passed would improve the revenue of the state, ensure proper layout of towns and villages and ensure tidiness of the envi­ronment in the state.

He said now that the rev­enue accruable to the state could no longer sustain the desired development, there is the need to look in­ward to be able to generate more revenue.

He assured that the As­sembly would continue to involve stakeholders, espe­cially professionals in vari­ous fields in the business of lawmaking to ensure that the people get the de­sired result.

Also speaking, Professor Nurudeen Aluko, a repre­sentative of Nigeria Insti­tute of Estate Surveyor and Valuers, said the bill was a welcome development.

He recommended that religious centres with schools should not be ex­empted from the payment of the rate and charges as indicated in bill.

In his submission, the Permanent Secretary, Min­istry of Land, Physical Planning and Urban De­velopment, Mr. Wale Ojo, called for effective admin­istration of the bill when eventually passed.

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He said, if the bill is ef­fectively administered, it would improve the state’s IGR.

The representatives of other professional bod­ies, including the Nigeria Institute of Surveyor, Sur­veyor Adeboye O.A and Nigerian Institute of Town Planners said the bill, if passed would generate more revenue for the state.

The deputy Governor, Otunba Titi-Laoye Tomori, appealed to the people of the state to corporate with the state government in ef­fective implementation of the bill when it is passed.

She said the develop­mental projects of the gov­ernment have facilitated increase in the value of property in the state, say­ing, it is the responsibility of the property owners to reciprocate by paying ap­propriate charges.

According to her, there is the need for all stake­holders to support the gov­ernment in harnessing po­tentials that could assist in the generation of revenue for further development of the state.

Also speaking, the Aki­run of Ikirun, Oba Abdul Rauf Adedeji, appealed to the people to support gov­ernment in its effort to im­prove IGR.