Every state has studied Lagos’ revenue generation blueprint, says Falana

Femi Falana, human rights lawyer, says all the states in Nigeria have understudied the revenue generation initiative of Lagos.

He said this while delivering a public lecture held by the Young Lawyers League to mark the 60th birthday anniversary of Obafemi Adewale, former attorney general of the state.

Falana who spoke on the theme ‘Restructuring By Litigation’ urged other state governments to emulate Lagos by altering the status quo and extending its powers to generate more internal revenue.

“I wish to submit that without embarking on the struggle for restructuring through litigation and adoption of political measures, majority of the state governments would have collapsed under the weight of wage bills.

“The Vice-President of Nigeria, Professor Yemi Osinbajo had recalled that “on the eve of civil rule in 1999 the Federal government had encroached into many crucial areas exclusively within the competence of states.

“While the courts have upheld the tenets of federalism within the limited ambit of the 1999 Constitution as amended the national assembly has continued to consolidate the status quo to the detriment of federalism while the Presidency has regularly encroached on the powers of state governments.

“On their own part, state governors have virtually turned local governments to extension of state governments, thereby compounding the crisis of distorted federalism.

“However, all the federating units have waged legal battles in court with a view to restructuring the country in a manner that federalism is restored.

“To challenge the several laws and policies of the federal government which violate the principles of federalism the 36 state governments have had to resort to litigation.

“The federal government has fought back by defending such cases vigorously and adopting extra-constitutional measures to stop state governments from altering the status quo.

“In addition to litigation the Lagos state government has dared the federal government by enacting laws in areas not covered by the exclusive legislative list in the constitution.

“As a result of the success recorded by state governments in the law courts the internally generated revenue of every state has increased rather phenomenally.

“For instance, through aggressive tax drive, issuance of certificates of occupancy on all landed properties, control of inland waterways, collection of levies from hotels, vehicle licences, approval of building plans etc the IGR of Lagos state which was N600 million per month in 1999 has increased to N23 billion in 2017.

“There is no state government that has not benefited maximally from the struggle for restructuring which has been led by the Lagos state government since 1999.

“Regardless of political differences, every state government has had to understudy the revenue generation initiative of Lagos state.”