Land Use Charge: Lagos govt. comes hard on home owners who convert residential buildings to religious centres

OREDOLA ADEOLA |

The Lagos state Government has indicated plans to come hard on property owners in the state who are converting their residential buildings into religious centres in order to avoid paying the Land Use Charge, as a result of waiver given to religious bodies on LUC.

This was disclosed by  Commissioner for Home Affairs , Dr  Abdulhakeen Abdulateef, on Monday at the annual ministerial press briefing to mark the third years in office of Governor Ambode’s administration, in Ikeja, Lagos.

The Commissioner however warned those indulging in such to desist, saying that it was important for all to operate within the ambit of the law.

He said: “Do not convert your residential premises to religious premises. Many do that for the sake of being protected from paying their Land Use Charge and that will not be tolerated. Whatever we want to do, let us keep ourselves within the ambit of the law.

“As for those who are combining their residences with mosque or church, we are not going to demolish but what we said is that all residential premises are subject to Land Use Charge and so when officials of government come, don’t claim there is a mosque on the grand floor.

Always know that as soon as your property is declared a residential block, you will pay Land Use Charge.”

The Commissioner said the State Government, through the Ministries of Home Affairs and Physical Planning, had also commenced moves to address the conversion of residential buildings to religious centres via engagement.

“It is a violation of the State regulations for residential buildings to be converted into religious centres. When a building is approved for a purpose, it is an aberration for you to now convert it into something else without the approval of the Ministry of Physical Planning.

“Recently, the Commissioner in the Ministry came to our Ministry and met with Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) to devise new means of engaging religious leaders so that they will not unnecessarily violate the State building regulations,” Abdullateef said.

Speaking on noise pollution, the Commissioner said the Ministry had been working in concert with the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA) to address the menace especially through engagement with religious leaders.
“LASEPA is in charge of pollution generally but because we are very close with religious organizations, we work closely with LASEPA and so whenever there is any report of noise pollution by any religious body, just let us know in the Ministry of Home Affairs and we will deploy NIREC to address the situation immediately.
“What the Governor has done with NIREC is that it is not only about enforcement but engagement.

When we engage them, we are able to sit down with them and through that we get a lot of result than just charging them to court or sealing their premises.

"We have worked effectively through NIREC to ensure that those ones who are creating nuisance in their environment are called to order and so whenever we have such cases; residents are enjoined to let us know in the Ministry,” the Commissioner said.

 Abdullateef further disclosed that the government was able to record high level of unprecedented peace and cooperation which led to the registration of total of 13, 000 religious institutions in the period under review. He also urged others to register with government as it was at no cost to them.