New Telegraph

LCCI backs FG’s borrowing for infrastructure devt

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has clarified that it is not opposed to Federal Government’s borrowing for Infrastructure development. It, however, noted that it was rather for government to address corruption in governance and massive revenue leakages in the country. President of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dr. Michael Olawale- Cole, disclosed this in an interview with New Telegraph in Lagos.

He said that borrowing for infrastructure development to strengthen the economy was a welcome development in all ramifications, as the infrastructures would be a catalyst for investors in the country’s economy and the GDP benefiting abundantly. Olawale-Cole explained that the task in the present government was that of addressing the issue of corruption in governance and mass leakages in revenue generation. According to him, “if you borrow to do something to a higher level, why not? if you borrow and it’s not showing in the long run, then what happened to the money you borrowed? Do you know that all the borrowings that have happened in the past is still happening now, then the quantum of what is on ground has suffered development.

“If you borrowed N30 billion to do a particular project and you know it’s going to cost you like N60 billion and yet you don’t see N30 billion to finished a N60 billion project, then there is a question somewhere, what happened to the gap? “Where did the money actually go to? A lot of other things go into it and that is why the issue of corruption in governance is an issue we need to manage very well in this country.” Olawale-Cole continued: “If you are borrowing, yes, you must borrow, but it must show that you are providing infrastructure for the economy to keep building the greatest ever to the world that is, a strong economy for over the decades.

“Perhaps we are all here seeing a lot of leakages that are in our revenue generation, we are not addressing it at all. If you look at the amount of money that is associated with corruption, especially within the tax management, you will be sorry for this country. “For instance, many people complained that when they (tax officials) come to them, a lot of these tax revenue collectors are after what can they get and that is why, this is even an IGR for government or even for states. “A lot of things are happening under that, which ought not to happen. If it continue to happen, it will diminish what government will have access to in the long run.”

The LCCI president further said: “For instance, if company A is due to pay N2 milion and there is an argument and in one way or the other, he only paid N1 milion and somebody has got half a million or N50,000 that has reached their pockets. These are the things happening in government. “I was Lagos State Commissioner for Finance about 30 years ago, I knew what we met when we got to government in Alausa Ikeja and we have to put in place a lot of things to encourage tax people around the revenue department. “A lot of projects were put around them and we also had to motivate them by giving them a lot of infrastructure, vehicles, allowances to make them move around and make sure that they were discouraged from taking what belongs to government into their pockets because they are going to be assessed by how much they brought in in the year. “That was how we moved the Lagos State IGR in 1992 to the figure and four times what it was when we came in and that is what Lagos State has built on now over the years and that is how they are making billions in a month. “So there was a foundation that was laid and that foundation is also available for the federal. It’s just for people to show that there is probity and accountability in what we do and luckily, it’s not only in the area of taxation, there are more areas that government needs to address.”

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