Lagos Anti-Open Grazing, VAT Bills Pass Second Reading

The Lagos State House of Assembly on Monday committed the bill on open grazing to the Committee on Agriculture after it scaled second reading.
The House also read for the first and second time the state’s Value Added Tax bill and asked the Committee on Finance which is handling it to report back tomorrow.
Speaker of the House, Mudashiru Obasa, described the ‘Prohibition of Open Cattle Grazing Bill’ as timely and one that would ensure harmonious relationships between herders and farmers and protect the environment of the state and the southwest zone.
The Speaker also suggested that the bill should make provision for the registration of herders and prepare them for ranching.
“Allocating parcel of land is not enough but there should be training of those who would go into ranching,” he said noting that ranching is expensive and required adequate preparation.
Concerning the bill on VAT, Obasa said it would lead to “increase in revenue and increase in infrastructural development. This is in line with fiscal federalism that we have been talking about.”
Obasa said the VAT bill when passed, would help the state meet challenges in its various sectors. He also urged the Lagos State government to do everything legally possible to ensure the judgement of a Federal High Court, Port Harcourt, is sustained even up to the Supreme Court.
He lamented a situation where about N500 billion is generated from Lagos State while N300 billion is generated from other southwest states and paltry amounts are disbursed to them in return.
“It is an opportunity for us to emphasise again on the need for the consideration of true federalism,” he said.
Speaking earlier on the bill on open grazing, Bisi Yusuff (Alimosho 1), lamented the havoc that herdsmen had caused in the southwestern zone.
According to him, farmers have continuously become afraid to visit their farms, thus causing shortage of food. He also said many farmers had become indebted as they found it difficult to pay back loans they secured.