CHAIRMAN, Lagos State chapter of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Hon. Moshood Adegoke Salvador, on Wednesday, insisted that the recent reduction of Land Use Charge rate by 50per cent by the state government is unacceptable, saying the new rate must be totally cancelled and a status quo maintained.

Salvador said this at an interactive session with journalists at his Salvador Tower in Surulere, urging the Governor Akinwunmi Ambode-led administration to consider making huge investments that would generate more income for the state that garners about N50billion internal revenue monthly instead of overburden the masses with more taxes.

This was just as the politician assured that the party, which he described as the new and powerful PDP, with 300,000 membership unlike in 2015 when it had just 20,000 membership, was now poised to take over power in Lagos, come 2019 as Lagosians were now tired of All Progressives Congress (APC).

Salvador, who was reacting to the series of endorsements by APC leaders, elders and party faithful, among others across the country ahead of 2019 Governorship Election, described such move as mere political gimmick borne out of the fact those involved had seen through that Governor Ambode had not performed in office since he was elected in 2015.

According to the PDP boss, had Governor Ambode been performing, he would not have come up with that new Land Use Charge rate which he had to reduce by half following public reaction that trailed it, declaring that slashing the new rate by half was not enough, but a complete cancellation would do.

“The series of endorsement for Ambode across the state is just a political gimmick, those who are involved in it know that he is not performing. If he is performing, he would not have come up with that new Land Use Charge rate. When we reacted, he reduced it by half, half is not enough, but a complete cancellation.

“A reasonable government does a lot of investments, especially government of Lagos State that generates over N50billion in a month is expected to do a lot of investments. It is expected to do a lot of good things to bring in Money not to come to members of the public and be punishing them every time to say they need money, it cannot be accepted.

“For my father’s house, they gave N260,000 as charges, if you now reduce it by half, it comes down to N130,000 and that is the house that generates N120,000, then how do you come up with that, it is an impossible thing,” he said.

Salvador said the argument being used to promote compliance of the new Land Use Charge rate in high brow area based on the market value and the 40per cent off from the value can also not hold water, querying, “Who determines the market value?”

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“Talking of high brow area too where they are talking about taking 40 percent off the market value of the house, who determines the market value? If you (government) are the one that determines the market value, you can say that the house that doesn’t worth N200million is N1billion and you make it impossible for me to pay and you now take me to a kangaroo court to seize my house from me. We are saying that is unacceptable, that is the bottom line of that,” the party chieftain said.

Salvador, however, assured Lagosians and Nigerians in general that the PDP would bounce back in 2019 to reclaim power at the centre and in Lagos, saying this would happen because every Nigerian was tired of APC government and wanted it out office.

The PDP chairman said in respect of Lagos, he was not only relying on that the fact that Nigerians were no longer interested in APC and just sitting down and doing nothing, pointing out that his method of digital mobilization was already manifesting in growing membership of PDP in the state to 300,000 from its poor figure of just 20,000.

“But coming to a political issue, I want to assure all Lagosians, I want to assure everybody in this country that nobody is interested in APC again and I don’t rely on that and sit down without working. You can see my method of digital mobilization, the result of the testimony of that is what you have seen at the last General Assembly where we had well over 6,000 in attendance, our secretarial cannot take more than 1,000. The next one I am going to do, I would shock you when I would have more than 20,000 people in attendance and they would all be PDP members in Lagos State.

“PDP is ready to take over Lagos State, that’s it, that is enough sign for you that PDP is ready to take over Lagos State. The question of not having agents at the polling booths is over. Before you would see so many booths without agents. We have 9,618 polling booths in the state, if we are to put two people each, it is almost 19,000 people and how many members of PDP?

“When I resumed we did not have up to 20,000 PDP members on record, now we are talking of over 300,000 membership through my membership digital mobilization. That is why we can call a meeting and see over 20,000 people come to the event.

“I have told party leaders, I have my strategy, I cannot blab with it on the pages of newspapers and on the radio, we can discuss it as a family, in the PDP family. We are in a position where people can block our strategy, therefore, we cannot expose that, but I will keep assuring you that this is the new PDP, a more powerful PDP, a PDP that is ready to take the mantle of leadership of this country back, the PDP that is ready to take Lagos from Ambode,” he assured.

Speaking further, Salvador wondered why the Toll fees for Lekki-Epe Expressway and Ikoyi-Lekki Expressway should still remain as high in spite of the fact that the state government had since paid the money it borrowed from banks to construct them.

He described the development as very unique to Nigeria unlike in the United Kingdom, the United States and France, declaring, “This is the first time in the history of Toll management that Toll fees go up, this is terrible.”

“Look at the issue of Toll gates that we have all paid for completely. We have paid back completely the money we borrowed to construct the Lekki-Epe Expressway and that of Ikoyi-Lekki was built with taxpayers money and yet we are still paying the toll. Anywhere in the world, you go to the UK, US, France, tolls always go down.

The principle is this; if we borrowed money to do it, you have to pay the money back, when you finished paying the money back, the money you now need is one to maintain the road, not to build it. That is why Toll usually goes down. This is the first time in the history of Toll management that Toll fees go up, this is terrible,” Salvador lamented.

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