Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo state has effected the sharing of revenue accrued from the Land Use Charge to the council areas.
The Commissioner for Finance, Wale Akinterinwa, made this known during the sharing of N48 million generated from the Land Use Charge between the State and the 18 Local Government Areas at the Ministry of Finance Conference Hall in Akure, the State capital.
Akinterinwa who said the sharing was imperative as part of government commitment that, whatever is accrued would be shared with all the local government areas as stipulated in the law that established the land use charge.
The Commissioner stated that the sharing was to encourage each local government to enlighten the people on the importance of paying taxes without which, he said the state would not move forward.
He implored the Local Government Chairmen to put up a laudable programmes, and use the money for developmental projects that would be of immense benefits to the people of their communities.
Earlier, the Chairman of Ondo State Internal Revenue Service, Tolu Adegbie, while presenting the statement of account said the N48m available for sharing is more than what has been collected in the previous years, stating that local governments had never benefitted from such revenue before.
He added that the sharing was based on the sharing formular where the state take 80 per cent of the available revenue while the local government take 20 per cent as stipulated in the law that established land use charge.
Adegbie informed that the money generated for sharing were from 3 local government areas (Ondo, Akure & Owo), and that regular sharing of the revenue collected would be shared on quarterly basis, as the one shared now is part of 2018 and the first quarter of 2019.
In his remarks, the Commissioner for Economic Planning & Budget, Emmanuel Igbasan, urged the Chairmen to always be ready to partner with the state government in order to take the state to a greater height and annex the potentiality in their areas.
On her part, the Commissioner for Local Government & Chieftaincy Affairs, Lola Fagbemi noted that the success recorded has not only brought an increment to the state internally generated revenue I(GR) but also spurred the government to employ young graduates.
Speaking on behalf of Southern Senatorial Chairmen, the Chairman of Okitipupa Local Government, Morenike Alaka, who appreciated the state government for being transparent and accountable, appealed for a review of the law as she described the sharing percentage too wide.
She however, assured the state government of their continuous advocacy to ensure that the people within their local government areas comply.
YOMI AYELESO, Akure
