By uncovered.ng
The Lagos State Government says the recently introduced Parking Levy by the State Parking Authority, (LASPA), is constitutional and legal.
Mr Adebayo Haroun, the Senior Special Assistant to the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, made this known in a statement on Monday in Lagos.
According to Haroun, the State’s Parking Authority Law 2018 empowers all Local Government Areas, (LGAs) and Local Council Development Areas, (LCDAs), in the State, to assign their powers in respect of fees collection in relation to parking to the State Government.
The State’s insistence is in reaction to a statement credited to the Human Rights Lawyer, Mr Femi Falana (SAN), on the power of the Authority to collect parking levy in respect of parking spaces in the State.
The statement explained that through a mutual agreement, the LGAs and LCDAs in Lagos State have assigned their powers to the State Government to collect fees on parking in Lagos State.
It noted that in a similar circumstance where the Court of Appeal was called upon to interpret Section 7 and 4th Schedule of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) with regards to the Land Use Charge Law of Lagos State.
It added that the Court of Appeal in Ola Animashaun Harimot Oluwabukola v. Attorney General of Lagos State & 5 Ors in Appeal No CA/L/1046 delivered on 19th November, 2018 held as follows:
“The intendment of Section 1(3) of the Land Use Charge Law of Lagos State is clearly not to take away the function constitutionally donated to the Local Governments, but to give powers to the Local Governments to permit a contractual relationship between it and the State on the issue of collection of taxes,
“This is clearly within the responsibility of the Local Government Areas without breaching any law or constitutional provisions.
“The constitution recognizes that any person that has a power can exercise such power through other persons or institutions.
“For example, the Attorney General can exercise its powers through other persons.
“It is therefore constitutional for the State Government and, by extension, the Lagos State Parking Authority to demand and collect fees in respect of parking in Lagos State,” the statement says.
