envoymedia: LIRS Reminds BBNaija 2020 Winner, Laycon, About His Tax (Photo)
Lagos State Internal Revenue Service, LIRS, sent a congratulatory message to BBNaija 2020 winner, Laycon, and reminded him about paying his tax, IgbereTV reports.
Racoon: Wonder if LIRS has ever directed this same message to the bullion van man of Burdillion or Alpha Beta company.
Good question. Let me wait for the JagbaJantis supporters to explain and answer.
FreeGlobe: In Lagos, Alpha Beta, as consultants, gets 10 percent of whatever Lagos State generates monthly. If this statement confuses you, you are not alone. There are just a few things you need to keep in mind though: Lagos State generates roughly 31 billion Naira a month. Ten percent of that is going to a consultancy firm owned by the former governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu. 75% of the revenue generated by Lagos State comes from taxes.
If you need to read the paragraph again, you are not alone. However, the truth of the matter is that Alpha Beta Company has been the tax consultant to the Lagos State government since 1999, when the former governor Tinubu began his tenure.
That year, Alpha Beta Company had definitely succeeded by delivering a dramatic rise in monthly state revenue from about 600 million Naira to 7.7 billion Naira. A laudable achievement indeed, but it would have been less so if the citizens of Lagos State knew what they had traded it in for. Alpha Beta Company had charged the state of Lagos a whopping one billion Naira a month for their services.
Now, just to reiterate, Tinubu owns Alpha Beta Company. Tinubu was also at the time, the Governor of Lagos State. Alpha Beta Company became the tax consultant for Lagos State in 1999, and they charged roughly 13% of the entire state revenue.
Today, Alpha Beta Company is still the tax consultant for the state. They now charge roughly 10% of the entire state revenue and Tinubu still owns it. The only thing that has changed is that Tinubu is no longer the Governor of Lagos State, or so it says on paper. With utmost respect to the office of State Governor, Tinubu is still very much in control of the state’s affairs, or at the very least, its revenue.
Despite all feelings of being scandalized here, one must look at the big picture. Governor Fashola is still working for Bola Tinubu. If he was not, things might have changed. New relationships would have been forged with the State Government and interest groups. However, the standings beg the question: what has really changed since then?
Undisclosed sources claim that Tinubu’s role in installing Fashola as Governor of the State is the biggest hindrance for the present regime. An agreement between Fashola and Tinubu over the duration of the tenure of governorship, as well as the selection of certain cabinet members paints a vivid picture on the sort of bind Fashola is in. At the moment however, one wonders whether or not he finds it at convenient as he used to, or if he ever did.
What is clear, however, is that there appears to be a lot of money changing hands, and the masses are still bewildered over the fate of roughly 31 billion Naira in revenue per month. There are a number of allegations regarding Fashola’s spending penchants. Here are just a few of them that beg to be disproved:
1. That in 2009, Fashola gave N250 million to the Rotimi Akeredolu-led executive of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) for the NBA conference held in Lagos, at a time when Lagos teachers and doctors were on strike for improved welfare package.
2. The Babatunde Raji Fashola Government within six months, January to June 2009, spent N420 million on the hiring of private security – to guard who? – despite his heavy investment in the Police Force through the State Security Trust Fund.
3. Babatunde Raji Fashola spent N1.5 billion to demolish the Bank of Industry (BOI) building, paying a company introduced by one Tunji Olowolafe in cash transfer, only for him and his cronies to claim the land adjacent to it.
4. The Babatunde Raji Fashola Government awarded a part of Western Avenue (Funsho Williams Road), about two kilometres road for N7.7 billion, just between Abalti Barracks and Costain. And without the construction of any bridge, the project was carried out by Julius Berger. This project must certainly be investigated.
5. Between January and June 2009, the Babatunde Raji Fashola Government claimed to have fuelled 225 vehicles in his office alone with N135 million. These figures amount to about N800,000 per day at a time that petrol was sold for N65 per litre. The Government always got fuel cheaper, but Babatunde Raji Fashola claimed to have bought it at N85 per litre.
6. Between January and June 2009, Babatunde Raji Fashola’s Chief of Staff and Personal Assistants expended N290 million in sending text messages and phone calls on their lines.
7. It is also very sad to know that the Babatunde Raji Fashola Government awarded the construction of a road and drains inside Gbagada General Hospital for over N1.8 billion to the same Tunji Olowolafe’s company (DEUX Projects Limited).
8. The sum of N1.5 billion of un-appropriated funds, without approval, was claimed to have been spent on the demolition of Oshodi.
9. The Helicopter Deal was a big fraud. The helicopter was not built for any kind of emergency evacuation, rescue or to even combat urban fire. Over N5 billion has been spent on the two helicopters. And the seal of Lagos State is not on it, and it is not even in Lagos but in the Niger Delta making money for some private people in Government. The whole helicopter deal stinks to high heavens; it constitutes the biggest governmental fraud of all times and confirms the rot in the State. See THISDAY December 19, 2009.
10. The Senior Special Assistant, SSA (Media) to Babatunde Raji Fashola spent N183 million in six months on press coverage and editors outside the approved budget but funded directly from the Governor’s Office.
11. In a State where children are sitting on the floor in classrooms, where unemployment is rampant and poverty pervasive, Babatunde Raji Fashola paid the wife of a controversial pastor over N600 million in two years for Christmas decorations for about six streets in Lagos.
12. In six months, between January and June 2009, Babatunde Raji Fashola spent monies on several faceless organisations, subventions, grants and donations such that they quickly pocketed N2 billion.
three: The erstwhile Managing Director of AlphaBeta, the Lagos State consultant on IGR took to twitter to share his petition to the EFCC via the law firm Adetunji Shoyoye and Associates.
He Accuses the firm among other things of corruption and money Laundering.
We can take the government on and challenge them to be transparent, accountable and also show responsibility but truth remains...TAX must be paid. You can’t avoid paying tax because the likes of Bichi’s son uses private jet at tax payer’s expense or that you saw bullion van in some politician’s compound etc.
Pls pay your tax and the BBN winner is not exempted.
KosiGee: We can take the government on and challenge them to be transparent, accountable and also show responsibility but truth remains...TAX must be paid. You can’t avoid paying tax because the likes of Bichi’s son uses private jet at tax payer’s expense or that you saw bullion van in some politician’s compound etc.
Pls pay your tax and the BBN winner is not exempted.
President Muhammadu Buhari has berated Nigerian youths for being 'uneducated' and 'not ready to work'.
President Buhari, while speaking during a panel discussion at the Commonwealth business forum in Westminster, London, expressed displeasure with youths in Nigeria because they were dependent on revenue from oil to survive.
He said the youths, who make up 60 percent of the population, were waiting to get social amenities free without doing anything.
"And then the economy. We have a very young population and our population is estimated conservatively to be 180 million. The 60 percent of the population is below the age of 30. A lot of them have not been to school and they are claiming that Nigeria has been an oil producing country and therefore they should sit and do nothing and get housing, healthcare and education free,"
The moderator had asked Buhari to give his final thoughts on the issues discussed. The President said he had fulfilled his campaign promises by improving on the nation’s security and the economy.
White007: This is Yusuf. He doesn't like to work. He stays in a free house, eats free meals and rides a power bike all day long. When sick, he flies a chartered or presidential plane to some of the finest hospitals to treat himself all for free. Yusuf is a #LazyNigerianYouths Don't be like Yusuf
Lol. After chopping tax from the organizers, the institution wants to chop tax from the winner too. Taxes won't kill somebody in my state of residence. Some of them illegal; I'm guessing many are.
XXLMANDIGO: To be objective, I listened to this guy's music and it is below par and the voice is not soronous. Though happy for his success and feat in the BBN House, he should find another calling,maybe Movies or Comedy.
