Manner of collection of Lagos Wharf Landing Fee archaic — PSTT

Traffic on Ijora-Apapa-Wharf Road

IN its continued efforts to free the corridors linking the ports of illegal collections and payments, the Port Standing Task Team (PSTT) has stated that plans are underway to engage the Lagos State Commissioner for Finance on the best way of Wharf Landing Fees collection.

The task team said this would form part of its second phase of ‘Operation Free the Port Corridor.’

Speaking on the development, the Coordinator-General of the team, Mr Moses Fadipe, said his team had at several occasions arrested officials of the state agency collecting levies along the road.

Fadipe said PSTT was not opposed to the levy collection but noted that digitalisation of the collection would facilitate Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) as stipulated by the Federal Government through the office of the Vice President.

Lamenting the archaic mode of collection of the fee, Fadipe promised to engage the state government through the office of the Commissioner for Finance.

“We are going to meet with the Commissioner for Finance in Lagos State on this matter in the next few weeks. We are already engaging them, but we are going to meet with them formally on this issue of Wharf Landing Fees collection.

“In that meeting, a lot of suggestions will come out on the best way towards collecting the fees because this is an era of digitalisation and I know that when it comes to revenue collection in Nigeria, Lagos State is the first state that stated revenue collection digitally in Nigeria. So if they can succeed in that area, then collection of Wharf Landing Fees won’t be an issue for them.

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“That is why we want to meet with them in a week or two from now to see how we can harmonise things.”

Recounting his experience with the operatives of the Wharf Landing Fees Authority, Fadipe revealed that some of the state revenue collection agency officials were arrested along the Apapa Port corridor over alleged impediment to traffic and handed over to operatives of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

He further suggested that the Lagos State Wharf Landing Fee Authority should emulate the way blue chip companies collect revenue at the ports and how best to engage freight forwarding and trucker associations .

Recall that the Chairman, Wharf Landing Fees Authority, Mr Gboyega Salvador Adebayo, recently frowned at the PSTT harassment of officials of the Authority, noting that the task team was frustrating revenue collection of the state government.