Land charges: Don’t convert houses to religious buildings, govt warns.

The Lagos State Government on Monday said some property owners had been converting residential buildings into religious centres in order to avoid paying the Land Use Charge.

The Commissioner for Home Affairs, Dr Abdulhakeem Abdullateef, who stated this at the annual Ministerial Press Briefing in Ikeja to mark the third year in office of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s administration, warned against the move, adding that such would not be tolerated.

He said, “Many people are converting their houses to religious centers to avoid paying their Land Use Charge; that will not be tolerated. Let us keep ourselves within the ambit of the law.

“Those who are combining their residences with mosque or church; we are not going to demolish, but what we said is that all residential premises are subject to Land Use Charge and so when government officials come, don’t claim there is a mosque on the premises.

“Once your property is declared a residential block, you will pay Land Use Charge.”

The commissioner said the government, through the ministries of Home Affairs and Physical Planning, had commenced moves to address the conversion of residential buildings to religious centers.

He said the government had saved a total of N4.5bn in the last three years following the government’s decision to stop sponsorship of people on religious pilgrimages to Israel and Saudi Arabia.

“Before the present administration came on board, the government spent an average of N1.5bn on pilgrims. So far, the funds saved have been used for the construction of roads and other social amenities to make life easier for residents,” Abdullateef said.