Fashola Exposes Jimi Agbaje's Tax Evasion To Lagosians

Lagos State governor Babatunde Fashola has accused the gov­ernorship candidate of Peo­ples’ Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, of owing the state over N1.6 million in Land Use charges for four years.
Fashola, who disclosed this Wednesday in Lagos at the state’s 8th Annual Taxation Stakeholders’ Conference, or­ganised by the Lagos State In­ternal Revenue Service (LIRS), warned Lagosians to beware of a tax evader aspiring to be their next governor.
Explaining how the debt accumulated, the governor explained that Agbaje refused to pay Land Use charges for his business out­fit, JK Pharmacy, from 2009 to 2012.
His words: “The Land Use charge is ground rents and tene­ment rate that we have consoli­dated together for tax administra­tion. These are the aggregate of the money that constitute income to our state.
“Now, I want to tell you about the candidate that wants to take my job because you are going to vote next month. He has deceived you for eight years that he was in Democratic Party Alliance (DPA), whereas he was an agent of PDP.
“He runs a business called JK Pharmacy. It is at No 9, Randle Close, Apapa. JK Pharmacy has not paid Land Use charge for 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012. He paid in 2013 and 2014, I think as election was close. They are owing this government, they are owing our state N1,639, 064.62. Now, do the mathematics. How many books would that money have bought in our schools?
“This Land Use charge, ground rents, local government collect from it; local government has responsi­bility for primary education. Yet, he is holding their taxes. Is this person a good citizen? This is the man who wants to be your next governor. I leave you to make your choice. But I will advise you that you avoid inexperience; I will advise you that you avoid deception, but most importantly, I will advise you to avoid a tax evader.”