Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State says he is ready to dialogue with the Organised Private Sector, OPS on the Land Use Charge, LUC, controversy, with a bid to arriving at a compromise.

Ambode spoke at a parley with the OPS, tagged: “Lagos Means Business” saying the review of the LUC had been generating controversy in Lagos, with the OPS saying it will resist the review which it put at 200 percent increase.

Addressing the audience made up of business moguls and captains of industries, Ambode said according to law, the LUC was supposed to be reviewed every five years, but lamented that the law had not been reviewed since 2002 when the law was set up, which spanned about 15 years.

The governor clarified that pensioners, churches, mosques, NGOs and government institutions did not need to pay the LUC.

Ambode said N13.2 billion was generated as LUC in 2017, saying N284 billion was raked in as taxes also in 2017.

According Ambode, the bottom line of the matter was that in public service, political decisions that appeared senseless to people in the private sector were made in order to keep stability and make the society be together.

The governor said there was need for infrastructural funding to be driven by the private sector, stressing that “if Lagos State succeeds, Nigeria succeeds. We must drive capitalism with social and financial inclusion.”

Speaking, President, Dangote Group of Companies, Aliko Dangote said there was need for people to pay their taxes voluntarily, saying that Lagos is the most friendly place to do business in Nigeria.

He, however, supported the idea that the state government should reduce the LUC a bit so that people would start paying immediately.

Present at the event were the Chairman of Zenith Bank, Jim Ovia; Chairman of United Bank for Africa, UBA, Tony Elumelu; Akran of Badagry, Aholu Wheno Menu-Toyi 1; Oba Otudeko, Chairman of Honeywell Group, among others.