Naomi Gabriel —
At the 11th Executive Council meeting in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital, the state Governor, Seyi Makinde has made payments of Land Use Charge by paying bills on his private properties, while calling for emulation from other property owners in the state.
Makinde through his Chief Press Secretary, Taiwo Adisa in a statement, said that the payment of the charge will aid the government in generating additional revenues in developing the state. It also added the council has granted approvals for the commencement of the Oyo State Residents’ Registration Programme.
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Also, making clarifications on the Land Use Charge, the state’s Commissioner for Finance, Akinola Ojo, while making clarifications on the Land Use Charge, expressed that the charge is not a new tax, adding that it is “to ensure that Oyo State has the revenues required to carry out projects and uplift people from poverty to prosperity”.
Ojo also, said that the state government had embarked on data capturing and enumeration of properties. He said the charge, which would be paid yearly, has been designed in such a way that the value of properties would determine the amount to be paid over a period of time, with incentives for early payments and penalties for defaulters.
“The governor flagged off the payment of the Land Use charge, which was one of his cardinal electioneering promises, Ojo said.
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“He made it known that throughout the time he has been living in Oyo State, he has never received a bill for Land Use Charge. And what we have done in this administration is to enumerate all the properties in Oyo State and all the properties in the state now have a unique I.D and we have also delivered bills to every property in the state.
“The process is easy and quick. Anybody who has a smartphone can use it to take a picture of the QR code on the top right corner of the Bill. With that, you get a quick populated screen where you just need to insert some fields, capture some essential details, which are your name, email address, contact phone number and follow the prompt.
“And, at your convenience, you can pay your land use charge bill as long as you have an ATM card and a smart phone. That is the easiest way of paying your land use charge bill.
“You can also go to the Ministry of Lands, where there is a dedicated office where you can pay the bill and get the receipt. We encourage every resident of Oyo State to embrace this lofty idea and ensure that we find a way to revolutionise this state”, he concluded.
