The Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong has tasked citizens of the State to take advantage of the existing 50% waiver granted on all land-based transactions and ensure timely payment of their property and land use charge.
Lalong spoke in Jos during the Stakeholders’ engagement forum on the implications of the Plateau State Property and Land Use Charge Law 2021 and the Plateau State Geographic and Information Services, PLAGIS Law 2021 on the internally generated revenue.
The event was organized by the State Ministry of Lands, Survey, and Town Planning in collaboration with the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit, GIZ.
The Governor, represented by the Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Sylvester Wallangko called on the private sector to key into the vision of his administration and pay promptly their taxes for the growth and development of the State.
He explained that the forum aims to “create awareness to Plateau people on the importance of property title registration” and also “the prompt payment of levy attached to the title registration because the government cannot perform without proper payment of taxes and cooperation by stockholders in the state.”
Also, the Commissioner for Lands, Survey, and Town Planning, Yakubu Dati said the Ministry is committed to becoming a major revenue earner and urged the business community to cooperate with the government and pay their Property and Land Use Charge.
According to him, “… Land-based revenue has remained hugely untapped, Governor Simon Lalong, had on the 14th July 2021, in a bid to turn the land sector around, assented to the Plateau State Property and Land Use Charge Law 2021 and the Plateau State Geographic and Information Services (PLAGIS) Law 2021. These are the two critical laws passed by the State House of Assembly to aid revenue collections from land administration.
“The Ministry deemed it necessary to organize this stakeholders’ engagement to bring Heads of government MDAs, development partners and members of the business community, especially the Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in the state who are clients of the Ministry under one roof, to present these laws, appreciate their implications on land administration and to chart a way forward for the growth and development of the state…”
The Chairman, Plateau State Board of Internal Revenue Service, PSIRS, Dashe Arlat in his remark said the State is committed to generating over N5 billion monthly using avenues like the implementation of the Land Administration signed into law by the Governor, noting that the State is working on how best to harness all the potentials in the land sector, by having the land law established.
However, the State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Chrysanthus Ahmadu sensitized the participants on the contents and expectations saying their cooperation would enable the government to create enabling environment for businesses to thrive.
Meanwhile, the representative of GIZ, Hauwa Mankilik stated that generating internal revenue was not enough, hence, sensitization about the laws needs to be in place so that stakeholders will be well sensitized on what is expected of them in regards to revenue generation.
A participant, Felix Dung, appreciated the initiative saying, “we cannot talk about infrastructure and not talk about land,” assuring that stakeholders would strive to abide by the laws.