The Lagos State House of Assembly on Thursday passed the State’s Value Added Tax (VAT), with Speaker Mudashiru Obasa, directing the Acting Clerk of the House, Mr. Olalekan Onafeko, to transmit a clean copy to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for assent.
The House also passed the bill that prohibits open cattle grazing in the state.
The two bills were passed after unanimous votes by the lawmakers at the sitting where they were read the third time.
Immediately after their passage, Speaker Obasa commended his colleagues for their passion to see that the state continues to grow.
“I Thank you all for this historic exercise,” Obasa said.
Recall that the House held separate public hearings on the bills on Wednesday with stakeholders expressing support.
Meanwhile, the south-west chapter of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association (MACBAN), had pleaded that it needed more time to train its members on how to stop the practice of open grazing, before the passage of this bill.
Maikudi Usman, zonal secretary of south-west MACBAN, made the plea on Wednesday at the public hearing of the Lagos State anti-open grazing bill.
He said the members of the association needed time to be educated on “how they will be breeding cattle in one place and not transfer to anybody’s land.”
“Our breeders are not used to breeding cattle in one place. They move from here to another place. When we say we’ll keep cattle in one place, the owner of the cattle will not have funds to feed the animals in one place,” Usman said.
“They’ve already depended on going from one place to another. Because in the rainy season time, we have where we settle down, and we also have for the dry season.
“We are pleading with Lagos State Government to give us time to go tell our people and train them how they will be breeding cattle in one place and not transfer to anybody’s land.
“But breeding in one place, right now, our people do not have the power to do so. What you’re not used to, you have to be taught. And gradually, everybody will understand.”
Last Monday, the anti-open grazing bill passed the second reading at the Lagos State House of Assembly. With the bill being passed today, Lagos has joined some other states in the country’s southern region that have codified the prohibition of open grazing into law.
In a related development, the InterParty Advisory Council in Lagos state has commended the members of the Lagos state House of Assembly for passing the Value Added Tax (VAT) bill 2021 and the Anti-Open Grazing bill 2021.
In a press statement e-signed and made available by the Advisory Council’s Publicity Secretary, Hon. Abiodun Salami stated that, “The InterParty Advisory Council (IPAC), in Lagos state,commends the members of the Lagos state House of Assembly for passing the Value Added Tax (VAT) bill 2021 and the Anti-Open Grazing bill 2021.”
According to Salami, “The bills were timely and in tandem with the yearnings of the people.”
“We describe the action of the House as a bold step towards bring harmonious relationship among all the ethnic groups in the state.”
Bills would not only enhance the economy of the state but also guide against lawless. With the Anti-Open Grazing bill, the peaceful coexistence of farmers and herders would further promote unity and development.
VAT bill is long overdue and we supports the action of the lawmakers, because the bill would promote fiscal federalism which the people have been yearning for.
The VAT bill is long overdue for us in Lagos because majority of the monies collected as VAT by the federal government were from Lagos. Despite Lagos huge contribution to VAT, meagre is always given to the state, which is unacceptable, painful and a huge loss to Lagos.
Now that the bill has been passed and which it is certain that the governor will assent quickly, development will continue to spread across the state because Lagos will have more money to execute more infrastructural projects in all areas of the state.
The Anti-Open Grazing bill would also promote economic of cattle rearing and crop farming. It is a bill which benefits both the pastoralists and crop farmers in the state.
IPAC, however, specially commended the Speaker of the House, Rt (Hon) Mudashiru Obasa for his leadership prowess and intellectual sagacity in ensuring that the Assembly remains to be ‘above the common standard’, saying that Obasa remains a blessing to the state and Nigeria at large.
