The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Lagos State, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, on Tuesday promised to stop multiple taxation in markets across the state. Agbaje said this while addressing traders at the Ladipo auto spare part market in the Mushin area of the state during his campaign visit to the area. Governor Babatunde Fashola had in 2013 closed down the market for over a week over poor sanitary conditions.
However, while berating the Lagos State Government for its policies, the PDP candidate promised to end “the era of impunity that you have suffered in the hands of the Lagos State Government, with incessant shutting of your business places over different excuses.” He said:
“I am a businessman and I want to assure you that I know what it means for your markets to be closed down. I want to assure you that we shall reverse this and stop multiple taxations because it is against the principle of natural justice.”
The President-General of the Ladipo Central Executive Auto Dealers Association, Mr. Ikechukwu Animalu, said that traders operated under a harsh regime of levies and charges imposed by the state government and the council. He said despite the high charges, the traders were not enjoying basic social utilities in the area. Agbaje said that a PDP government under him would maintain the sanitation of the market, instead of blaming Ladipo businessmen for improper waste disposal. Explaining his plans, he said:
“The way it is going to work is that when Ladipo traders are closing in the evening, the cleaners would be resuming to clean up the market in preparation for the following morning’s business. That is the way it works in other places in the world. And I see no reason why we cannot achieve it here. It is not proper that Ladipo market does not have a toilet. We will provide toilet facilities for Ladipo and other markets in the state.”