Barely 18 days into the New Year 2022, the Lagos State government has introduced a daily ₦800 consolidated levy for transporters in the state.
Speaking at the signing ceremony and ticket unveiling at Ikeja on Tuesday, the Commissioner for Finance, Dr Rabiu Olowo, said that there was a need for the harmonised levy.
The daily N800 levy is outside the levies collected by the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN).
According to Olowo, the consolidated levy collection will start February 1, 2022, sayingt the harmonized levy became expedient to ensure that the transport sector in the state is organised and fits into a 21st-century economy, adding that the consolidated levy takes into consideration all the elements in a sane society.
Olowo said the harmonisation was necessary in order not to over-burden transporters with exorbitant levies. He said that the state government carried out a survey six months ago and realised that an average transporter paid N3, 000 daily as levies.
Olowo said that the consolidated levy was an agreement by the Lagos State Government, local government, bodies of the road transport union (National Union of Road Transport Workers – NUTRW and Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria – RTEAN ) and other parties in the MDAs.
The levy, the government said takes care of dues previously accrued to local councils across the state, as well as revenue for Lagos Waste Management Authority (LASWA) and Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA), Lagos State Inland Revenue Service (LIRS) among other MDAs, he said.
Olowo said the state government expects that the levy will eliminate multiple taxes.
In his remarks, the Chairman, NURTW, Alhaji Musiliu Akinsanya, said that NURTW and RTEAN were in agreement with policies that would ensure the development of Lagos State, stating categorically, however that the N800 consolidated levy would not deprive the union of collecting its normal statutory levy.
