Property owners are still livid the with Land Use Charge act as more people start to receive their demand notices. We have also seen an increase in the dissemination of copies of demand notices shared by property owners in protest to what critics have considered as excessive.
Here is an example of a demand notice that was widely circulated on social media. This one got some members of the Nairametrics team really flustered. See below;
Here a few observations from this Demand Notice
- The house is located in Omole Estate, a Residential Estate in Ikeja.
- The State Government Valued this house at N588 million, an astronomical amount for a property located on the outskirts of Ikeja.
- The demand notice did not include the size of the land, which may have provided an insight into how the value was determined.
- The property was valued as a commercial one despite being in a residential neighborhood. Most Nigerians convert residential properties to offices to earn higher rental yields.
- They charged an astonishing N4.47 million, surely far higher than the rental value of this type of property in this location.
- They also added a default charge of 125%, 150% and 200% for every successive month that the bill remains unpaid. A 3 months delay moves the charge from N4.47 million to N8.95 million.
Reactions continue
On Tuesday, property owners staged a protest in Ikeja, the capital of Lagos State. Members of the Ikeja branch of the Nigerian Bar Association, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, NECA among others have all issued publications against the controversial law.
The vitriol against this law is pervasive as officials of the State Government hop from one radio station to another in a bid to quell the backlash. From what we have come to understand, the resentment shown against this law is mostly attributed to the high increase in demand notices received by property owners in Lagos.
Lagos State, on the other hand, is bent on allowing this law to succeed and is hoping that some of the outrage being displayed by property owners drown out as more issues engulf the news cycle as we have seen many times in the past.
How valid is this document with “Date of Notice” reading 30 March, 2018?