Residents of Lagos State have expressed their support for Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on the recent ban on anti-open grazing and the already assented Lagos VAT law.
The residents support for Sanwo-Olu was made known through a feedback survey conducted on Monday, September 13, 2021 by a Lagos based Public Relations and ICT Consultancy Firm, Freddan Continental Services Limited. The firm is highly reputed for its assembled team of well experienced development experts, media entrepreneurs and data analysts.
The feedback survey was conducted through SMS that were sent to 50,000 mobile numbers of Lagos residents. The SMS simply requested the mobile number owners to reply with ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ if they support the Lagos VAT law and ban on open grazing. The survey feedback however showed that 86% of the respondents supported Governor Sanwo-Olu on the VAT law and ban on open grazing.
Breakdown of the survey feedback indicated that 21,125 Lagosians
responded with ‘Yes’ while 14% which translates to 3,439 Lagosians responded with ‘No’. Although the remaining 25,436 people did not respond to the survey.
It will be recalled that Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu signed the Lagos VAT bill into law
on Friday, September 10, 2021.
While the VAT bill is ready for implementation barring any contrary pronouncement by the Appeal court; the anti-open grazing bill already passed by the Lagos State House of Assembly has also been transmitted to the governor for his assent.
Lagos VAT law imposes 6% tax on the value of goods and services as against the subsisting 7% VAT imposed by the Federal Inland Revenue Services. Section 7 of the law also empower Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS) to administer and implement the VAT regime. This implies that LIRS will account for money collected in line with the law and do all other things that are necessary for the assessment and collection of the tax.
Section 33 of the law also specifies that 75% of the VAT revenue will go to the state government while the remaining 25% will be shared amongst the Local Government Areas. The Lagos VAT law likewise
provides for a body that will be known as the Value Added Tax Appeal Tribunal.
Similarly, the already passed bill on anti-open grazing provides a fine of
N50,000 per head of cattle that is found grazing on another person’s land. Section 2 (1) of the bill states : “Any person that owns or is in control of cattle and causes or permits such cattle to graze on any land that does not belong to the owner of the cattle, or is not within an area designated for cattle grazing, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to payment of a fine of fifty thousand Naira (N50,000) per head of cattle and payment for the costs incurred for impounding, transporting and maintaining the cattle by the order of the court”.
Also, section 2 (2) and (3) of the anti-open grazing bill states, “Any person that owns or is in control of such impounded cattle must claim them before the expiration of seven days from the day the cattle were impounded or be liable to permanent forfeiture of such cattle by order of the court. All unclaimed cattle under subsection two (2) of this section shall be publicly auctioned”.
The bill also contains provisions that guarantees high level of hygiene in animal husbandry ventures across Lagos State. The document clearly specifies that cattle grazing in an enclosed land must be approved by the Lagos Ministry of Agriculture.
Section 3 (1) and (2) of the bill state, “Any person that owns or is in control of cattle shall not cause or permit such cattle to graze in an enclosed land, without obtaining approval from the Ministries of Environment and Agriculture. Such approval shall not be granted where the enclosed land is within a residential area”.
Meanwhile, section 4 (1) and (2) of the bill prescribes a jail term of 21 year jail term for any herder that is found to be in possession of a firearm while herding. “Any person found to be in possession of firearms while herding cattle commits an offence and is liable on conviction to twenty-one (21) years imprisonment”.
More so, section 4 (2) of the anti-open grazing bill also specifies a jail term of 7 years for any herder that is found to be in possession of dangerous weapon or object while herding. “Any person found to be in possession of a dangerous weapon or object, with intent to wound or cause grievous bodily harm to another person while herding cattle commits an offence and is liable on conviction to seven (7) years imprisonment”.