Posted Wed, Jun 19, 2019 4:26 AM

Apapa ports, infrastructure, taxes take centre stage as Lagos decides

Issues bordering on the quality of the business environment in Lagos, especially those relating to Apapa ports, parlous state of infrastructure and multiple taxation will form the bedrock of private sector’s decision on who becomes the next governor of the state.

Indeed, members of the Organised Private Sector (OPS) had explained their involvement in the electioneering process, citing the need to protect their investments as well as ensure that the quality of governance is improved upon for sustainability.

According to the President of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Babatunde Ruwase, the private sector remains a major stakeholder in Lagos State in terms of its internally generated revenue, job creation and the general advancement of the economy.

The operators expressed concerns on the state of the roads, and traffic congestion caused by trailers parked on the bridges as being responsible for the movement of goods within the state.

Indeed, a recent study by the OPS showed that the Nigerian economy is currently losing about N600 billion in customs revenue, estimated $10 billion (N3.06 trillion at N306.35/$1) on non-oil export and about N2.5 trillion corporate earnings across the sectors on a yearly basis, due to inefficiencies at the ports and access roads to the ports.

According to the study undertaken by LCCI, in collaboration with the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) and OPS made up of MAN, NECA, NACCIMA, NASME, NASSI, and Centre for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), the chamber noted that the port reforms undertaken by the Federal Government are being frustrated by businesses and government agencies thriving from the inefficiency of the ports.

When asked to defend their manifestoes as it relates to the business environment and issue of multiple taxation, Lagos gubernatorial candidates had acknowledged the need to widen the tax net in the state in order to reduce the burden on the number of people and firms paying taxes.

Similarly, some of the candidates emphasised the need for regulators in the state to act as facilitators rather than as revenue generating agencies.

Babajide Sanwo-Olu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said: “We need to get more people into the tax net by devising an efficient way to increase number of people in the tax net. Government needs to be very creative by pushing development in new areas so that people can come in.”