Business

Parking Levy Controversy: New provision lawful, to eliminate indiscriminate collections — LASG

Published

2 years ago

September 8, 2022

…Debunks claims of levy on parks of private residence

By Moses Adeniyi

The Lagos State Government (LASG) has called on the public to disregard “false claims” making rounds over parking levy to be imposed by its Agency, the Lagos State Parking Authority (LASPA), stating that it is on point of law for the benefit of Lagosians.

This is just as the Government has said new development around parking levy was to provide framework for employment opportunities and generation of revenue, by eliminating indiscriminate levies imposed by unidentified actors.

Recall that a post had recently gone viral on social media, stating that LASPA issued a letter signed by its General Manager, levying a Lekki-based company a total sum of N290,000 for the parking lot outside their premises.

The report had generated controversies, which the government has described as a product of gap in knowledge of the law.

At a media engagement on the activities of the newly created agency, LASPA, the State’s Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Gbenga Omotoso, said the claims that the Government was to levy people for parking in their private residence was a craft of falsehood.

Describng those peddling the erroneous views around the levy as “bystanders and parrots who do not know anything about the law,” he said the claim “is a fallacy of the ear,” stating that it is a product of raising false alarm for the political season.

“It is not true, it is an attempt to malign the government by mischievous people. We are not surprised to see things like this because we are in the season of politics. When it comes to this kind of matter everybody seems to be an expert, everybody seems to be a lawyer,” he said.

This is just as the Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, Dr. Frederick Oladeinde described the controversies generated over the subject as a product of “political jobbers and people with limited knowledge on the constitutional mandates of LASPA.”

He said against “the erroneous claims of certain individuals and groups, LASPA has the power by law to collect park levies.”

“As it is usually the case, especially in a political season, political jobbers and people with limited knowledge on the constitutional mandates of LASPA have tried fruitlessly to exaggerate the issue by playing to the gallery,” he said.

Describing the Agency as “a one stop authority, providing solutions to parking challenges across the State,” he said the idea that informed the creation of the Agency was to put an end to impediments arising from indiscriminate parking and collection of levies.

Highlighting the mandates of LASPA, he said “LASPA was created to find lasting solutions to the issues of indiscriminate and illegal parking across the state.”

This, according to him, “will aid prompt reduction of traffic gridlock experienced by everyone.”

“The agency was established, among others, to promote parking policies tailored to suit the peculiarity of the State in line with modern international standards towards achieving a smart city,” he added.

According to him, the Agency was also empowered to remove all “impediments arising from indiscriminate parking on carriageways, thereby increasing the carriageway capacity on the roads, improving the flow of traffic and reducing travel time.”

“First on our mandate is to improve the parking culture. We also believe that the establishment of the Authority also enables employment opportunities for the youths. In doing so, it is expected that revenue generation will come naturally,” he said.

The Commissioner said the Agency has the “mandate to charge fees on private commercial parks, non-commercial parks and other parking lots on any facility provided by the Authority.”

He argued that against the exorbitant cost commuters bear on stopovers with the usage of commercial parks, LASPA levy was flatly low and considerate.

“Let me emphasize that most private commercial parks charge the Lagosians between N500 to N1,000 parking dues per hour and each person parking at these respective parks can have 4 stop over which sums up to N2,000 or N4,000 daily.

“At the end of the year, the commercial park owner will realize over N182,500 or N365,000 if charges is per hour or gain a total N730,000 or N1,460,000 for 4 stopovers. This is the price most Lagosians pay to commercial park owners.

“LASPA levy of N80,000 divided by the No of days in a year result to N219 only against the above charges of commercial park owners.

“The difference is clear as the government is quite considerate and responsive in making the environment conducive for all,” he argued further.

He mentioned that as “a government that respects the constitution as the sole source of its engagement with the public, the State Government will never resort to any unconstitutional means in its dealing with the people.”

Enjoining Lagosians to cooperate with the agency and other similar stakeholders in carrying out “its laudable mandate,” Oladeinde implored interested and concerned members of the public to visit the Agency’s office for necessary information and assistance.

The General Manager, LASPA, Mrs. Adebisi Adelabu, said the State Government is moving to the level where every developer/builder must accommodate park provisions in their building plans before construction.

She said the prevailing order where buildings have been built without provisions for parking space, have had telling effects on infrastructure with gridlock which accompanies parking indiscriminately.

She said the Agency has been engaging with religious organisations and businesses on the need to establish parks for their worshippers and customers.

She mentioned that the need to reorder indiscriminate collection of levies for parking was important to channel the funds into infrastructure to solve existing problems.

She said the State was encouraging the development of parks by private stakeholders.

Business

Stock market review: FBN Holdings leads 41 others as investors gain N811bn

Published

12 hours ago

May 5, 2024

NewsDirect

FBN Holdings Plc has topped 41 other advanced equities to pull the Nigerian Exchange Ltd. (NGX) market indices up by 1.46 per cent, week-on-week, making investors gain N811 billion.

The market, having opened for four days in the week, following the May Day holiday, had FBN Holdings leading the gainers’ table by 32.68 per cent to close at N27 per share.

Sterling Financial Holdings followed by 27.75 per cent to close at N4.88, while UACN gained 24.60 per cent to close at N15.45 per share.

Julius Berger added 23.76 to close at N72.40, while Flour Mills rose by 20.66 per cent to close at N36.80 per share.

Conversely, Nascon Allied Industries Plc led the losers’ table by 17.03 per cent to close at N43.60, University Press trailed by 16.67 per cent to close N2.05 per share.

Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals shed 14.14 per cent to close at N1.70, Berger Paints Plc declined by 9.87 per cent to close at N13.70 and Vitafoam Nigeria lost 9.81 per cent to close at N17 per share.

Meanwhile, 42 equities appreciated in price during the week, higher than 27 equities in the previous week.

Thirty-six equities depreciated in price, lower than 43 in the previous week, while 76 equities remained unchanged, lower than 84 recorded in the previous week.

Consequently, the All-Share Index and Market Capitalisation appreciated by 1.46 per cent to close the week at 99,587.25 and N56.323 trillion, respectively, in contrast to 98,152.91 and N55.512 trillion posted last week.

Similarly, all other indices finished higher with the exception of NGX Consumer Goods, NGX Oil and Gas and NGX Industrial Goods which depreciated by 0.26, 0.68 and 0.36 per cent, respectively, while NGX ASeM and NGX Sovereign Bond indices closed flat.

Meanwhile, a total turnover of 1.941 billion shares worth N32.644 billion in 35,807 deals was traded this week by investors on the floor of the Exchange, in contrast to a total of 1.839 billion shares, valued at N34.258 billion, that exchanged hands last week in 37,528 deals.

The financial services industry measured by volume led the activity chart with 1.496 billion shares valued at N22.453 billion traded in 19,225 deals, thus contributing 77.08 and 68.78 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value, respectively.

The consumer goods industry followed with 144.722 million shares worth N5.063 billion in 4,966 deals.

In the third place was the conglomerates industry, with a turnover of 109.978 million shares worth N1.539 billion in 2,064 deals.

Trading in the top three equities, namely Abbey Mortgage Bank Plc, Guaranty Trust Holdings Company Plc and Access Holdings Plc, measured by volume, accounted for 898.940 million shares worth N14.314 billion in 5,518 deals.

These contributed 46.31 and 43.85 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value, respectively.

Business

Caribbean PM, Sanwo-Olu mull partnership to boost economic prosperity

Published

2 days ago

May 4, 2024

NewsDirect

The Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Hon. Gaston Alfonso Brown and Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu are exploring areas of partnership to foster economic prosperity for their people.

Speaking during a courtesy visit to Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, at the Lagos House, Marina, the Caribbean PM said that his country is ready to partner with Lagos State and Nigeria in general in trade and investments.

The Prime Minister was accompanied by his wife, Maria Browne; Ambassador Davin Joseph; Chairman/CEO of Air Peace Limited, Dr. Allen Onyema; Nigerian Ex-International and Air Peace Ambassador, Chief Segun Odegbami and CEO of LIAT 2020 Airlines Antigua, Mrs. Hafsah Abdulsalam.

Speaking during the courtesy visit, Prime Minister Browne said the key objective of his country is to strengthen the relationship between Antigua and Barbuda and Nigeria, as well as the Caribbean and the rest of Africa.

He said, “I believe Africa has a significant amount of resources, and literally every African country can become a developed country. I am of the view that African countries can do even better than the Republic of China.”

“Our aspiration for Nigeria is to see Nigeria become a developed country within the next decade or two. And we want to make sure that we are an early mover in the Caribbean to establish close linkages with Nigeria to increase trade and investment. The Caribbean and Africa must unite and work together to bring prosperity to our people.”

Speaking during the courtesy visit, attended by Lagos First Lady Dr. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu and some members of the Lagos State Executive Council, Governor Sanwo-Olu said his administration will partner with Antigua and Barbuda in entertainment, arts, culture, and technology.

He said, “We are building a bridge. The Caribbean is the sixth region of Africa. We can partner in the areas of culture, tourism, arts, and entertainment because we have a lot of things in common. We can quickly begin to ship between the two regions all of the things that are common to us.

“Our tourism potential, arts and culture, and the kind of music we listen to can infuse into our economy very quickly, and we will begin to see the benefits among us and the two regions.

“Technology is very important because it knows no boundaries. We say we are the tech hub of Africa. All of the unicorns in tech start-ups have their origins in Lagos. So, technology can also be the strong handshake that we require.

“The time is now, and we all need to seize the opportunity. Mr. President has laid the background for us. He has said that he wants Nigeria to have a one trillion GDP within the next couple of years, and that is the kind of thing we are saying.

“Nigeria cannot just sit back and be a developing country. We have to take that narrative up. If China and India can do it, Nigeria can do it. We need to take charge and let the world know that indeed we are our brothers’ keepers, and distance should not be a hindrance.”

Also speaking, Chairman/CEO, Air Peace Limited, Dr. Allen Onyema, commended Governor Sanwo-Olu for receiving the Prime Minister Browne and his entourage.

He said the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda is in Lagos to address Nigerian investors, noting that Lagos will benefit a lot from the business discussions.

He said Africa is the next destination for the entire world, noting that there is a second scramble going on for Africa. “The West, Asians, and everybody else want a piece of Africa. We must have Africa for ourselves and accommodate others,” he said.

Business

Tinubu tasks automotive manufacturers to produce quality vehicles

Published

2 days ago

May 4, 2024

NewsDirect

…assures of passage of automotive bill

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has tasked automotive manufacturers to produce quality vehicles that will stand the test of time.

The President made this known when he received a delegation of the African Association of Automotive Manufacturers and the Nigerian Automotive Manufacturers Association led by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Ms. Doris Uzoka-Anite at the State House.

The delegation, which was received by the Chief of Staff to the President, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, thanked the host for finding time to receive them and pledged their commitment to the Renewed Hope Agenda of the President.

The Delegation consisted of the Director-General of the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC); representatives of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), as well as Executive Directors of Stallion Group, Toyota/CEAO and NISSAN.

According to the spokesperson of one of the associations, the purpose of the visit was to apprise President Tinubu of the efforts being made to start manufacturing vehicle/spare parts in Nigeria. They informed the Chief of Staff to the President that a legislative bill to drive the automotive industry was being drafted and reviewed by the Federal Ministry of Justice.

They emphasized the need to develop the industry, which would create massive employment for Nigerian youths and ease the burden on the much-needed foreign exchange.

The Chief of Staff to the President, while thanking the delegation for the visit, assured them of the President’s commitment to Nigeria’s industrialization as evidenced by all of the policies being implemented under his administration.

He promised to assist in facilitating the speedy passage of the legislative bill. He, however, implored that locally-manufactured vehicles should be of the highest quality that will stand the test of time and complement the Federal Government’s efforts in revitalizing the industry.

He also urged the associations to look into producing vehicles that would be affordable for all categories of Nigerians at a time when President Bola Tinubu is set to provide consumer credit for millions of Nigerians to purchase vehicles and other important goods and services.