NASARAWA OWED OVER N5BN IN GROUND RENT

The booming property business in most of Nasarawa State because of the proximity to Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), is not reflecting on the revenue there as most property owners have devised means of evading taxes now showing an outstanding of over N5 billion owed the state in ground rents alone.

“Nasarawa State is owed about N5.2 billion in ground rents alone. The outstanding is stretching years of evasion by property owners especially individuals and firms sitting on large lands stretching into several hectares. They don’t pay”, Sonny Agassi, state commissioner in charge of Lands, Survey and Town Planning told Daily Trust, yesterday.

The commissioner said several holders of Nasarawa State land titles have evaded taxes, even after several demand notices have been served them, although he said the ministry was partly to blame, explaining that the ministry under the previous administrations in the state, did not show any seriousness in revenue generation efforts. The ministry under the present commissioner has introduced reforms which have so far reviewed land charges, and is currently executing a computerization system called Nasarawa Geographical Information System (NAGIS) which will sum up to getting the correct data on land ownership, as well as assigning serial numbers to the owners for easy reach and payments, among other 21st Century urbanization development.

He said the current reforms have sent lands officers after property owners, vowing that the new administration is committed to invoking necessary sections of the Lands Use Act, on any case of further evasion. The provisions of the Act empower the state governor to hold land in trust for the people.

Agassi said property owners in Karu at the border with Abuja, have become notorious in tax evasion, but vowed that revocation of their land titles is on the way.

The ministry’s earlier advert on defaulters of land taxes said: “The Ministry observed with dismay, the continued contravention of this provision by some Land Title Holders since the time of the publication, despite the issuance of demand notices to them in this regard”, and warned that the ministry will not hesitate to invoke the relevant provisions of the law in this respect at the expiration of the grace period