Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) recently released a provisional list of tenement rates for commercial and residential buildings in Abuja city. The Presidential Villa, government ministries, agencies and foreign embassies are exempted from the payment. The provisional valuation list which copy is on display at the Council’s secretariat shows that a six bedroom duplex in Asokoro district would pay N6 million as tenement rate. The list also reveals that while a five bedroom duplex is required to pay N5 million, a seven bedroom duplex shall pay a tenement rate of N9 million per annum. Most residential buildings in Abuja’s Central Business District have an annual tenement rate of N5 million to settle.
The tenement rate for an eight bedroom duplex in Maitama district is N8 million just as the rate for a residential building in Gwarimpa 1 and 2 as well as Garki 2 is put at an average of N1 million per annum. A bungalow at Orozo, an FCT suburb, is to pay N200,000 as tenement rate. Hotels like Bolingo are to pay an annual tenement rate of N367 million, an amount that is probably enough to build another hotel. AMAC chairman Abdullahi Adamu Candido said a committee had been set up to listen to complaints that may arise from the public on the provisional valuation list of tenement rates. Inaugurating the committee in his office, Candido said the valuation which was conducted by the council’s tenement division captured every building within AMAC and that the valuation list is ready for inspection and objection by the public. Head of AMAC’s Tenement Rate Division in AMAC Mrs. Hannah Ibrahim said the list is provisional and that the final list would be published on the Council’s website after all complaints arising from objections have been resolved.
On the legality of the Council’s action, AMAC boss said the Local Government Act, Laws of the FCT 2006; Taxes and Levies Act 2004 as well as AMAC Tenement Rate Collection Bye-law 2012 all provide for the Council to collect the rates. He recalled that on May 12, 2014 the Court of Appeal delivered a judgment in favour of the Council and that all previous judgments expressly recognized and validated the legitimacy and power of the Council to collect tenement rates.
Adamu Candido called on residents of the capital city to be tax friendly, saying the valuation of properties currently being inspected and objected to by the public shall come to fruition at the end of 21 days, after which the list shall be taken to the National Assembly for ratification. Candido further said the Council shall, after obtaining approval from the National Assembly, have the authority to enforce the collection of tenement rates from owners or occupants of properties within AMAC and that defaulters shall be liable to prosecution.
It would be recalled that there is an existing Memorandum of Understanding entered into by Candido’s predecessor which ceded the collection of the rates to the Federal Inland Revenue Service. Apart from being multiple taxation, enforcement of any tenement rates that are as high as proposed by AMAC will only promote tax evasion and corruption. Property owners would choose to bribe AMAC officials in order to evade payment of the exorbitant rates. In the end, individuals among AMAC staff are likely to benefit more than the Council as only very few shall be ready to pay the actual rate.
In view of these controversies, we urge the National Assembly to hold a public hearing on the matter and to thoroughly examine its implications in these lean times. AMAC should be made to suspend further collection of the rates and stop harassing occupants of landed properties. Even if the National Assembly allows tenement rates, it would be better if the rates are fixed reasonably low. It is better to collect small amounts from many people than go for higher rates and lose a lot.
