- President Muhammadu Buhari would be welcomed to Lagos with another round of protest against the Land Use Charge, by the Ikeja branch of the NBA
- The NBA chairman said that the protest was a response to “failure" of the state government and State House of Assembly to meet their demands
- He stated that the protest would go on, irrespective of the public holiday declared by the Lagos state government in anticipation of the presidential visit
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Ikeja Branch, has restated its resolve to embark on another round of protest on Thursday, March 29, over the reviewed Lagos Land Use Charge, NAN reports.
The NBA chairman, Adeshina Ogunlana, said at a media briefing on Wednesday, March 28, that in spite of the reduction of the rates and levies under the Land Use Charge, the protest would go on as planned.
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NAIJ.com notes that that President Muhammadu Buhari is scheduled to arrive in Lagos on Thursday, on a two-day state visit.
The Lagos state government has declared Thursday as a public holiday, in honour of the president.
Governor Akinwunmi Ambode had earlier reduced the levies by 50 percent, following a protest that greeted the Land Use Charge; but the reduction did not go down well with some stakeholders who insisted the LUC returns to status quo.
A public hearing on the Lagos Land Use Charge organised by the Lagos state House of Assembly on Tuesday, March 27, had turned rowdy as Ogunlana led lawyers in a walk-out, insisting that the notice to submit their memorandum was too short.
Ogunlana said: “The protest is far from being over as lawyers have declared their intention to embark on another round of streets protest tomorrow (March 29)."
The NBA chairman said that the protest was a response to “failure” of the state government and State House of Assembly to meet their demands. He, however, warned some members of the public who, he said, were peddling negative rumours against the NBA to desist from it.
Ogunlana said: “The reduction is a sham and a calculated ploy to hoodwink the people of Lagos state.”
He also said the NBA objected to the House of Assembly’s setting up of a committee to review the Land Use Charge 2018.
“Come Thursday, March 29, the “Walk the Talk” protest must go on, irrespective of the public holiday declared by the Lagos state Government in anticipation for the presidential visit,” he added.
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Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously reported that stakeholders, including professional bodies and civil society organisations, on Tuesday, March 27, demanded a reversal of the new Lagos state Land Use Charge Law, 2018 to its former status, rather than an amendment.
The stakeholders made this position known at a one-day stakeholders meeting organised by the state House of Assembly on the controversial law that drew condemnation and protests from residents.
According to the stakeholders, the state government had no justification for the increment, as the economic is biting hard on the masses.
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Source: Naija.ng