Why Lagos Will Not Cancel Tolling, Concession Agreements, By Fashola

LAGOS State Governor Babatunde Fashola Friday said no amount of pressure would force his government to rescind its policy on concession and toll collections on the Lekki-Epe Expressway and Ikoyi Link Bridge.

  Fashola, who was the keynote speaker at the Nigerian-British Chambers of Commerce (NBCC) business round-table in Lagos Friday, said the concessions are partnerships with the global investment community, and border on integrity of the Nigerian state.

  Apparently reacting to Jimi Agbaje’s campaign promise to cancel existing toll agreements when elected, Fashola said such promises raise serious issues about the opposition party’s understanding of the undertaking and portends grave dangers to the Lagos economy.

  Fashola noted that one of the conditions attached to the concession was the legislative backing and the Federal Government’s commitment to pay the invested fund, should the contract be terminated under whatever circumstance.

    His words: “It has always being an issue of trust and our integrity. The global investment community is a very small one; you hurt one, you hurt all of them. Because the word would go round very quickly (should their be a breach of trust), you cannot go there again.

   “So, it is not only Lagos you will hurt, but the whole of Nigeria. Our credit will be reappraised and borrowing cost will go up. So, when people say they want to rule this state and the things they largely talk about is to cancel concession and agreements, then we have to be very wary”.

    Fashola added that such unwholesome development would also affect local investors who are more defining for the development of the economy.

  Continuing, he said: “The day anyone makes it a state policy to begin to cancel contracts, then we are heading for disaster. If service is not being delivered, what you are to do is to reduce service levels. I have reviewed many services since I became governor, but we don’t cancel any contracts. Those are the bold ideas and I call them bold ignorance,” he said.

   The governor added that another state government’s policy often misunderstood is the place of Alpha Beta Company (ABC) in revenue generation in the state. Fashola explained that the ABC acts in strategic capacity for improved Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) and does not handle funds.

  He said it was worthwhile for all to know that the IGR in Lagos was N600 million in 1999, but has rose to N21 billion monthly.

   “That was not all of the revenue (N600 million) due to the state, but all that the state could collect then. Now, the state is now generating N21billion on a monthly basis. The revenue didn’t just fall. It was collected by an accounting process that made everybody want to pay. That is the story of Alpha Beta; Alpha Beta doesn’t touch cash. So, when they parade ignorance as an idea, I marvel.

    “We have a Lagos Internal Revenue Service (LIRS) who does taxes, audit and all of that. What Alpha Beta does is to put a system check into place so that we could see our balances every day.

   “Before then, many people had government receipts in their pockets. And the story was their asking people to choose between paying to government or to private purse. That is why it was only N600 million and immediately we closed those doors, by taking local services, supporting businesses to invest, and they are providing services.

    “It was a system of checks and balance. While LIRS issues the bill, Alpha Beta ensures control. Sometimes I still see some receipts that don’t look good and I have to call the chairman of LIRS and others demanding answers. And it is annoying that people who don’t know how it works believe lies that have been put in public without interrogating,” he said.