- Levies shared between marketing board and LGAs – Traders
- Collectors are touts, not our officials – Govt
In 2016 alone, touts, masquerading as representatives of the Lagos State Government and/or its agencies made an estimated N216 billion in illegal levies from business men and traders across markets in the state, investigations by The Point have revealed.
This revelation came just as the state government stepped up measures to intensify its internally Generated Revenue drive, leading to its emergence as the highest IGR-earning state in the federation in 2016.
This reportedly stands at over N268billion in the year under review. According to the Lagos State Marketing Board, there are six million traders across the markets in Lagos. Each trader, findings revealed, paid an average N3,500 per month in 2016.
This brings the total illegal levy collected by the touts to about N252 billion. The illegal but organised collections, not only created holes in the pockets of millions of traders spread across the major markets surveyed, it made the ease of doing business more difficult and frustrated many out of business.
From the popular Balogun market in Lagos Island to markets in OkeArin, Ebute-Ero, Isale-Eko, Idumota, Lekki, Alaba International, Ikeja Computer Village, Daleko, Ile-Epo (along Abeokuta expressway), Ladipo, Mile 12, Morocco I and II, Mushin, Yaba, Oyingbo, Mile 2, Iyana Ipaja, Iyana Iba, Agege and Epe fish markets, among others, findings by our correspondent revealed that traders paid an average of N3,000 monthly in unapproved levies.
The findings also revealed a strange dimension to the illegal activities of the self-appointed government collectors. They made traders and business men from the Eastern and Northern parts of the country pay double what they forced out of their Yoruba-speaking counterparts.
“Some of us pay as much as N6,000 to N8,000 to these elements as levies and taxes every month. And this is just because we are not from here,” Ekene Okonkwo, an importer with outlets in Balogun and Alaba markets in Lagos told our correspondent.
Some of the illegal levies often collected from the traders include ‘shops and kiosks rates’, ‘approved open market levy’, ‘tenement rates’, ‘radio and television licence fee’, ‘public convenience levy’, ‘sewage and refuse disposal fees’, ‘association levies’ and ‘Iyaloja monthly dues’, among others. With many of the traders describing the activities of the collectors as “exploitation and day light robbery,” analysts have expressed worries that some of the attendant effects of such over-taxation are seen in the unnecessary increment of the cost of basic commodities by the traders across board, with consequent escalation in the cost of living in the commercial nerve centre.
This unfortunate development belies the state government’s efforts at reforming critical sectors of its economy with a view to improving the state’s performance on the ease of doing business index.
Recall that a recent ranking of countries by a World Bank group – Doing Business – on the relative ease of doing business in their shores, rated Nigeria 169 out of 189 countries, with Lagos State alone contributing about 73 per cent of Nigeria’s rating.
Similarly, a recent survey, conducted by the International Monetary Fund on the effect of increasing prices of commodities in emerging economies, revealed that such increase was responsible for over 70 per cent of inflation in such economies.
SAVE US FROM MARKETING BOARD, COUNCILS – TRADERS
Several traders across the markets, who lamented the “unfair treatment” being meted out to them by the ‘illegal government officials,’ expressed shock that such acts, could be going on unchallenged.
They demanded the immediate intervention of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, threatening to shut down major markets across the state if government takes no concrete step to stop the illegal acts soon.
They alleged that they had been turned to money-making avenues by the council and LCDA officials, under whose direct supervision the markets fall.
“The local governments and LCDAs, where these markets are domiciled, are responsible for the exploitations. Over 60 per cent of the levies we pay every week go to the local governments and LCDAs officials,” Ignatius Okechukwu, who sells wares at the Idumota market, told our correspondent.
While many of the traders point accusing fingers at council officials, a sizeable number also alleged that the Lagos State Marketing Board was aware of the practices and indeed used some of the touts to fleece them of their hard-earned money.
A number of traders across the markets, who spoke with The Point in separate interviews, said that in most cases, when they refused to pay the illegal charges, their wares were either destroyed or impounded by the touts, who usually did not give tickets or receipts for some of the levies collected.
For instance, traders in the biggest shopping district in West African subregion, the Balogun market, told The Point that a high percentage of the levies forcefully collected from them were shared between the state Marketing Board, headed by the board’s President-General, Mrs. Folashade Tinubu-Ojo, and the sole administrator of Lagos Island Local Government, Mr. Musa Nasir.
According to one of the executives of the market, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue, Tinubu-Ojo and Nasir are feeding fat on the hard earned money of the traders.
The woman, who runs a boutique, said, “The duo have refused to come to the aid of the traders, despite the various complaints lodged to them in their individual and official capacities about the exploitation going on in the markets.
“Asking us to pay N1, 500 every week, while our Yoruba counterparts pay N700, is like telling us that Lagos is only for the people from the SouthWestern part of the country.
As if that is not enough, the touts, who claim they are from the local government, harass us, steal our goods or destroy them when we plead for bargain.
As Nigerians, we deserve equal right with other traders from other tribes in every part of the country.” Another trader, Mr. Chisom Okafor, disclosed to The Point that some of the touts also claimed that they were from the office of the Iyaloja-General of Lagos and demanded for N500 as security fee, with tickets that featured an untraceable address.
“It has always been a tradition for these people. They have been collecting the illegal levies for more than 10 years that I have been selling shoes here in Balogun market.
We are law abiding citizens of Nigeria, and we do not engage in illegal businesses; we do not understand, however, the reason we are being exploited and our complaints had always been taken with a pinch of salt.
If the governor is indeed a good listener as he claims, he should intervene before we go on strike,” he said. Some traders in Yaba and Oyingbo markets, who are largely from the Eastern part of the country, also pointed accusing fingers at the Iyaloja-General and the Bayo Adefuye-led Yaba Local Government for demanding higher levies from them compared to their Yoruba counterparts, who represent the minority in the markets.
They alleged that the duo had plunged them into huge debt, with the increasing levies and multiple taxes imposed on the traders. An executive of the Yaba Central Market Traders Association, Mr. Ugochukwu Ojukwu, told The Point that the multiple taxation imposed on the traders by the state government was hampering the development of the informal sector and was making life unbearable for most residents of Nigeria’s most populous city.
He said, “We are forced to pay too many levies. We just cannot cope anymore. Most times, we borrow to pay to prevent our wares from being damaged or seized. “Paying over N1, 500 every week to different groups, amounts to multiple taxation, and that is a wrong policy in a nation with huge unemployment and poverty rate.
Our members hardly make profits after paying various levies to government officials and some illegal groups.” Another trader at the famous Computer Village, which houses about 100,000 traders in the state capital, Ikeja, Mr. Emeka Okafor, faulted the Ambode-led administration for its failure to protect the traders from extortion.
He noted that the ‘officials’ had constituted themselves into nuisance in the market. According to him, most times, when these ‘officials’ approach the market, there is pandemonium, as traders will hurriedly lock up their shops to avoid payment and the attendant harassment.
Okafor said, “When they come, they demand that you pay N2,000, and after much bargaining, they tell us that they can’t collect less than N1,200. Often times, they target the roadside traders, who don’t have shops or permanent spots to sell their wares.
“These people come and act like officials of the state’s Kick Against In discipline outfit, and when you ask them for their means of identification, they usually take offence and start trouble.
On many occasions, we have experienced their regular extortion rounds that resulted in big fights.” Investigations by our correspondent revealed that traders in Ile Epo (Abeokuta expressway), Ladipo, Mile 12, Morocco I and II, Mushin, Yaba, Oyingbo, Mile 2 and Iyana Ipaja markets, were also victims of the exploitation.
They alleged that in most cases, the ‘touts’ were escorted by one or two Yoruba traders, who would identify the ethnicity of each trader in the markets before the demand for the illegal levies. However, Yoruba traders across the markets in Lagos are not left out.
“Different groups come almost every month, demanding different levies without proper means of identification or letter of authority from their principals. They force the N3, 000 off us, depending on our bargaining power, every month.
At times, they call it ‘security’, ‘market leaders’, ‘shops and kiosks’ rates, among others. But we will soon fight back; it appears government has abandoned us,” a trader at Iyana-Iba market, Mrs. Foluke Abatan, told The Point.
EXTORTION KILLING BUSINESSES – EXPERTS
A renowned economist and deputy National Coordinator of the Institute of Chartered Economists of Nigeria, Prof. Ganiyu Oladipo, described the extortion of the traders to double taxation.
He said it could also amount to taxation by two or more jurisdictions on the same declared income, or taxing the same product at two different levels, which always affect the economy adversely.
He said, “If you look at the markets in Lagos State, for example, Ikotun, Mushin, Oshodi and Iyana Ipaja markets, with a large population of traders, they are exposed to a lot of extortions, some of which I had also witnessed.
Some of these people had paid for lock-up shops to the local governments, they pay annual levies, they pay daily ticketing and they also pay for security. “Iyaloja will collect her share, Babaloja will collect, and the Baale or Kabiyesi in the jurisdiction will also collect from the traders.”
Oladipo said that the effect of this was that investments would be decreased, as some of the traders, especially the petty traders, who did not have much money, would end up losing their profits and capital, more so when failure to pay the illegal levies, would lead to either losing their wares through seizure or destruction by the alleged council officials.
He added that this might lead to capital flight or death of such businesses, while it also brings untold hardship on the final consumers of such goods and services, as they would be made to pay through the nose for the products or services.
He said that the extortion also encourages corrupt practices among local government and LCDAs officials, who print fake receipts with which they dupe unsuspecting traders.
Oladipo added that this explains why many staff of some local councils refuse to be promoted from the low cadre or resign or retire from their jobs when such happens.
Another economist, Mr Alaba Olusemore, said multiple levies increases the cost of doing business by the traders, which makes businesses unprofitable for business owners.
Different groups come almost every month, demanding different levies without proper means of identification or letter of authority from their principals. They force the N3, 000 off us, depending on our bargaining power
WE HAVE CASES IN COURTTRADERS’ ASSOCIATION
Meanwhile, the National Association of Nigerian Traders has urged its members not to take the law into their hands, but remain law abiding.
The National President of NANTS, Mr. Ken Ukaoha, told The Point that the issue of extortion of traders by officials of local governments and LCDAs had been a recurring decimal in Lagos.
“We have several cases in court, and we should not spoil them with violence. A certain group of traders wanted to fight officials of local governments and we intervened. We don’t subscribe to violence,” he said.
In cases of multiple levies, the NANTS boss revealed that the group had engaged several local governments in series of round table discussions. Ukaoha said, “In some cases, the board of the local governments argued that those who paraded themselves as their officials were ‘touts’, which makes it difficult for us to act. The police have not also helped in arresting the culprits.
THEY’RE TOUTS, NOT OUR OFFICIALS – COUNCILS
However, some of the spokespersons of the affected local government areas and LCDAs, where the markets are located, told our correspondents in separate interviews, that the people collecting the levies were not their officials, but miscreants who took advantage of the ignorance of some of the traders.
The Press and Public Relations Officer, Lagos Island Local Government Area, Mrs. Morounkunbi Odunfa, told The Point that her local government was aware of the development, which she said had been on for years, but that the council had warned the traders several times, not to pay any form of money to any government officials, but to the bank account of the government.
When asked about some levies’ receipts, issued in the local government’s name, she said, “I will get back to you on that, but I don’t think our officials do that.”
She never got back as at the time of filing in this report. She also refused to pick calls or respond to text messages sent by our correspondent.
In the case of Yaba Local Government, a source in the office of the sole administrator, who pleaded anonymity, because she was not permitted to speak officially, disclosed that the council had, in the past, dismissed some of its officials arrested for exploiting traders.
“We have told the traders several times to report cases of exploitation to the market master, who is in charge of market issues in the local council,” she said.
PRESIDENT-GENERAL TOO BUSY TO RESPOND – AIDE
Meanwhile, all efforts to get the reactions of the President-General of the state Marketing Board, who also doubles as the Iyaloja-General of Lagos, Tinubu-Ojo, to the allegations levelled against her office were frustrated by her personal aide, Mr. Mayowa Agboola.
Agboola told The Point that his principal was too busy to respond to the allegations levelled against her by the traders.
COMPLAIN TO COUNCIL ADMINISTRATORS – STATE GOVT
The Public Relations Officer of the Lagos State Ministry of Local Government and Community Affairs, Mrs Bisi Olufuwa, said that the ministry was only concerned with the direct assessment tax being collected by the LIRS, which some of the market traders did not even pay.
She added that the other levies collected by the local governments were the security levies, the maintenance of the market fees, which did not concern any government official.
“It is, perhaps, to be paid to the Iyaloja of the market, which varies according to the size of the market. Most of the levies do not concern the state government at all.
They depend on the Iyaloja and the agreement they have with the traders in the market,” she said. She however advised the traders being extorted in the various council areas to complain to their sole administrators who would address the issue.
