Tax relief measures in Lagos would remain until next year, to further mitigate the impact of the Covid-19, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) has resolved.
The resolution is part of the outcome of the 16th teleconference meeting of the governors held on Wednesday.
According to a statement issued at the end of the meeting and signed by the NGF Chairman, Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, “all state governments, through their internal revenue services, will ensure seamless implementation of the tax relief programmes for businesses and other taxpayers.
“These programmes which were released in some states since March 2020 were designed to reduce the financial burden of taxpayers in the country up till 2021 in some cases.”
The forum also resolved to work, through its sub-committee in relation with the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, on addressing concerns raised by the states on the reception of new inmates at correctional facilities, amid the current Covid-19 prevention measures in the country.
“The NGF resolved to provide leadership to the COVID-19 response in their respective states by ramping up risk communication activities and community testing.”
The forum asked state governments to nominate focal persons that would interface with the Ministry of Petroleum Resources on the actualization of the National Gas Expansion Programme (NGEP).
The governors were urged to maintain vigilance to ensure that the structures put in place for routine polio immunization are not jeopardised by the COVID-19 pandemic in the light of the Rotary International’s recognition of the forum’s role in ending the polio infection in the country.
The NGF commended the World Bank for the new initiative to support the states in updating their property records. According to the forum, some states are already in advanced stages of developing a geographic information system that will help them gather, manage and analyse geospatial data both for the purpose of spatial planning and property taxation.
