Lagos State Deputy Governor and All Progressives Congress governorship candidate for the 2027 election, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, has promised to eliminate multiple taxation and introduce a unified tax collection system across the state.
Hamzat said his administration would harmonise tax collection with local governments to ensure that residents and businesses pay only approved taxes without facing repeated demands from different government agencies.
He made the pledge on Friday at a town hall meeting organised by BusinessDay, where he outlined his proposed tax reforms ahead of the 2027 governorship election.
The deputy governor said the Federal Government’s tax reforms, which reduced the number of taxes from 63 to nine, provided a framework Lagos was working to align with.
He, however, acknowledged the constitutional independence of local governments and the Supreme Court’s position recognising them as a separate tier of government.
According to him, the state is engaging local councils to harmonise their tax schedules and establish a system that makes payment obligations clear to taxpayers.
Hamzat said the proposed arrangement would provide a single, accessible list of approved taxes, ensuring that individuals and businesses would not be subjected to arbitrary levies.
He recalled an encounter with a woman who complained about the difficulty of identifying her tax obligations, noting that taxpayers should be able to know exactly what they owe and be left alone once payment is made.
He said, “If I pay, leave me alone. I think that’s a fair request and I intend to honour it.”
The APC candidate also promised to establish a dedicated complaint centre where residents and business owners could report cases of multiple taxation, harassment and other irregularities involving tax officials.
He said complaints submitted through the proposed platform would receive responses within 48 hours, adding that the commitment had been captured in his manifesto.
On food transportation, Hamzat highlighted the burden of multiple collections faced by traders transporting food from other states into Lagos.
He said Lagos produces only about five per cent of the food consumed in the state, making it heavily dependent on supplies from other parts of the country.
Although the state has no control over levies imposed outside its territory, he said the proposed harmonisation would ensure that payments made within Lagos could be verified by relevant authorities, including local governments, to prevent repeated demands.
Hamzat also addressed complaints relating to rent and other challenges faced by residents, saying existing laws needed to be backed by effective enforcement mechanisms and accessible channels for reporting violations.