Babajide Sanwo-Olu
Sanwo-Olu complains about Tax law in Lagos. Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has stated that the state government’s tax collection is growing slowly due to tax law limits.
He emphasized that the state could broaden its tax base and improve collection efficiency, but it has yet to completely maximize its revenue potential.
The governor made the announcement during a meeting with members of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, chaired by its chairman, Taiwo Oyedele, at the State House, Marina, on Monday.
The visit was part of the country’s extensive engagement with sub-national parties to build a credible tax administration structure.
Sanwo-Olu stated that the state can accomplish a lot in terms of “revenue generation; more importantly, effective generation and utilization of the tax.” We drew estimates up to N7 trillion during our bilateral discussions in preparation for presenting next year’s budget. However, we are limited by the amount of revenue we can create and have set the value at N2.2 trillion.
“This demonstrates the enormous gap in our ability to develop the economy more quickly and efficiently.” We can’t keep whining any longer. What can we do to strengthen our revenue stream and our ability to leapfrog and take governance in a more daring manner? This participation with your committee is crucial at this time, as you go around states to identify bottlenecks.”
Sanwo-Olu stated that the committee’s goal was not to produce abstract and non-implementable documents, but rather to identify and alleviate bottlenecks in the taxation of sub-national governments.
The governor urged the committee to come up with a quality intervention that would help the state attain its full potential in revenue generation and fiscal sustainability.
He said, “We all need to work collaboratively on this objective. If all constraints are attended to, we should begin to see monumental changes in our revenue projection. The potential is there and the numbers show the results we can achieve if fully explored, but we cannot sit back and think things will change overnight if we do not take the right approach to resolve the issues.
“We anticipate that every member of this committee will devote all of their skills and mental resources to this task.” I believe the committee will meet the goals that Mr. President established for it. As a state, we are prepared to provide you with any necessary assistance. We will open our records and exchange data to determine where we need to make improvements in order to achieve improved revenue performance.”
Oyedele stated that Lagos was the first port of call for the committee during its nationwide survey, noting that the state’s success in tax reform had served as an example for other states.
The tax expert stated that the country needs to solve its revenue issues, which would entail developing a strong tax system.
“We are no longer at a point where we can continue to celebrate incremental progress in revenue generation; it must be accompanied by a transformational shift in the quality of spending of the generated revenue,” he said.
“Our GDP-ration spending is the lowest in the world.” We must solve this without losing sight of the importance of spending quality.”