Lagos state government has said that over N1 billion was spent monthly by residents on merriment and entertainment in the state.
Speaking, yesterday, at the 2013 ministerial Press Briefing held in Alausa, Ikeja, to commemorate the sixth year anniversary ofGovernor Babatunde Fashola’s administration, Commissioner for Local Government and ChieftaincyAffairs, Mr. Ademorin Kuye,said the statistics was aproduct of a recent research conducted by the State’s Ministry of Economic Planning and Budgeting, stating that “this justified the reason whylocal Governments demand that anyone organising events in the state must pay the Merriment Tax.”
“There is merriment tax in that constitution, itspart of the rateLocal Governments can collect. We have not fully utilised the benefit of the entertainment industry in thisstate”.
“Over N1billionis spent monthly in Lagos state on entertainment and parties, wehave the records to confirm this and this people, how many of them pay tax? The money goes into drinks, wine, food, aso-ebi and allof that and when they spend all of this money; they do not want to pay anything to thegovernment,” Kuye said.
He lamented that the benefits of entertainment have not been fully tapped and utilised in the state and the country, stressing that taxes accruing to the government are spent on merriment.
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