16th January, 2015
Kazeem Ugbodaga
The All Progressives Congress, APC, governorship candidate in Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode has promised to inject N25 billion in four years into his proposed Employment Trust Fund, ETF, to create jobs for Lagosians.
Ambode made the promise while speaking at the governorship debate held at the Archbishop Vining Church in Ikeja, Lagos, southwest Nigeria, on Thursday.
He said each year, N1 billion would be accessed by each of the four divisions in the state to create employment for people.
Ambode also said that two-third of Lagos revenue is generated from tax and that the glut in oil price would not affect the state much.
“We knew that a day like this will come and that was why we have strengthened our tax system. There are eight million residents of Lagos who should be in the tax net but we have four million. The next strategy is to ensure that we become more efficient in generating more internally. We will be more creative with it by pleading with the four million that are yet to embrace the payment of tax in the state. The tax we get was what we have used to develop the state,” he said.
In the area of security, Ambode disclosed that in the last seven years, N12 billion had been raised for this purpose by the government with the private sector contributing about N4 billion to the Security Trust Fund, STF, saying that he was going to improve on this achievement.
He added that his administration would offer good leadership, accountability, governance, opportunities and service to the people of Lagos if voted into office.
On his part, the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Jimi Agbaje, accused Governor Babatunde Fashola of wasting tax payers’ money and imposing heavy tax burden on few Lagosians.
Agbaje alleged that “the state government is putting the burden of the eight million persons who should have paid tax on the four million tax payers.
“And it is heavy and they are grumbling. You have to expand the tax net rather than over burden the few that are complying. Also, there is need to expand the economy to create more jobs and others.”
According to him, the revenue generated within the state was enough to cater for the state’s needs, adding that “there is a lot of wastage by the government. At the moment, the state is not encouraging businesses.”
On education, Agbaje and Ambode disagreed. Agbaje had alleged that 85 percent of the state’s budget in this sector was spent on recurrent expenditure.
“All we do with the fund allocated to education was always spent on salaries. And with that, our education will not improve. The education of today is not for the factory but about creativity. The state government spends three percent on primary education and that is the key because if the foundation is not effective, there can never be solid structure,” he said.
Ambode countered him by saying that “Agbaje said that 85 percent of the state’s budget is run on salary. That is not true. He didn’t understand that there are several schools in the state and the population of the pupils is increasing daily.”
Other candidates at the debates were: Action Alliance, Mr. Ishola Aregbesola; Kowa party, Mr. Victor Adeniji; Mega Progressives Peoples Party, MPPP, Mr. kayode Jacobs; Alliance for Democracy, AD, Mr. Bolaji Ogunseye; Labour Party, Pastor Biodun Popoola, Independent Democrats, Mr. Akinola Obadia and Comrade Ayodele Akele of the National Conscience Party, NCP.