“The collection of parking levy in Lagos State is lawful and Constitutional.”
The above was the position of the Lagos State Attorney-General (AG) and Commissioner for Justice, Moyosore Onigbanjo (SAN), through a statement dated August 29, 2022, and signed by the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the Commissioner, Adebayo Haroun.
The AG was reacting to a statement credited to a Lagos-based human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, who had queried the power of the Lagos State Parking Authority to collect parking levy in respect of parking spaces in Lagos State.
However, in the statement made available to Judiciary Correspondents on Tuesday, Haroun said: “The attention of the Lagos State Parking Authority has been drawn to a statement credited to Mr Femi Falana, SAN, on the power of the Agency to collect parking levy in respect of parking spaces in Lagos State.
“The Lagos State Parking Authority Law, 2018 empowers the Local Government and Local Council Development Areas in Lagos State to assign their powers in respect of collection of fees relating to parking to the State Government.
“Accordingly, by a mutual agreement, the Local Government Areas and Local Council Development Areas in Lagos State have assigned their powers to the State Government to collect fees on parking in Lagos State.
“In a similar circumstance where the Court of Appeal was called upon to interpret Section 7 and Fourth Schedule of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) in regard to the Land Use Charge Law of Lagos State, the Court of Appeal in Ola Animashaun Harimot Oluwabukola per ‘Attorney General of Lagos State & 5 Ors in Appeal No CA/L/1046 delivered on 19th November 2018’ held as follows:
“The intendment of Section 1(3) of the Land Use Charge Law of Lagos State is clearly not to take away the function constitutionally donated to the Local Government but to give powers to the Local Government to permit a contractual relationship between it and the State on the issue of collection of taxes which is clearly within the responsibility of the Local Government without breaching any law or constitutional provision.
“The Constitution recognises that any person who has power can exercise such power through other persons or institutions. For example, the Attorney-General can exercise its powers through other persons.
“It is therefore constitutional for the State Government and, by extension, the Lagos State Parking Authority to demand and collect fees in respect of parking in Lagos State.”
All rights reserved. This material and other digital volumes on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from THE NEWS ACCELERATOR NETWORK.
Contact: thenewsacceleratornetwork@gmail.com or 08033599492
Post a Comment