“𝗟𝗘𝗚𝗔𝗟 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗘𝗗𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗦 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗟𝗜𝗠𝗜𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦 𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗘𝗫𝗘𝗠𝗣𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦 𝗜𝗡 𝗡𝗜𝗚𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗔”
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𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲: 30𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝗳 𝗢𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿 2024
𝗕𝗬: 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗩𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗢𝗷𝗲𝗶 𝗽𝗼𝗽𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗪𝗼𝗻𝗴-𝗕𝗼𝘅 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗴 𝗡𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗥𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗢𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.
𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝘂𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝘆 𝘃𝗶𝗮 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁𝘀𝗮𝗽𝗽 𝗼𝗻
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𝐈𝐧 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚, 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐋𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐋𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐫 𝐀𝐫𝐞𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐥𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬.
(𝗔)• 𝗝𝗨𝗥𝗜𝗦𝗗𝗜𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗔𝗨𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗥𝗶𝗧𝗬:
In Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (𝐅𝐂𝐓), the courts have repeatedly held that area councils do not have the authority to levy 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 unless the National Assembly specifically enacts a law authorizing it. This was confirmed in Planned Shelter Ltd. v. Abuja Municipal Area Council, where the court ruled that without National Assembly legislation prescribing 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬, the councils cannot legally collect 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬.
The judgment emphasized the constitutional requirement for legislative backing, as 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐥 derive their authority to assess and collect such rates from the National Assembly or respective State Houses of Assembly, depending on the area in question.
(𝗕)• 𝗗𝗢𝗨𝗕𝗟𝗘 𝗧𝗔𝗫𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗖𝗘𝗥𝗡𝗦:
In cases where property owners are already subject to fees from other authorities, like the Abuja Environmental Protection Board, the courts have also examined whether the imposition of 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 constitutes double taxation. For instance, in Bamak Pharmacy Ltd. v. Abuja Municipal Area Council, the court clarified that 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 do not constitute double taxation, provided they are legally justified and not duplicating existing payments by property owners for similar services.
𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐋𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬.
𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐂𝐓, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.
𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧.