Lagos state government has commenced the collection of levies for cars parked outside the perimeter fence of companies.
Gatekeepers News reports that Lagos State Parking Authority (LASPA) has charged a food and snack company, Nellies, N290,000 for parking lots on setbacks.
A setback is a minimum distance from a property line to which a building must be set back from a street or road, among others.
In a letter dated August 15, the agency charged N80,000 per annum on three parking slots for off-street with N50,000 as a nonrefundable administrative processing fee.
The letter read, “The Lagos State Parking Authority, established under the law to consolidate all that relating to parking and its connected purposes with powers and functions, clearly states that the Authority shall, among others, be responsible for all forms of managed parking in the State.
“In view of the above, and in line with the administration’s policy in moving Lagos state towards a 21st-century economy to align with the first pillar of THEME’S Agenda of which transportation is key, your organisation is hereby served this demand notice for the setback parking (Off-Street) in front of your premises before the commencement of enforcement action.
“Based on the inspection, we identified three (3) parking slots on your setback at the rate of N80,000 per slot per annum totalling N240,000.00(Two Hundred and Forty Thousand Naira) only.
“Also, a non-refundable Administrative/Processing fee of N50,000 (Fifty Thousand Naira) only applies based on your location totalling N290,000.00 (Two Hundred and Ninety Thousand Naira) only payable for the year 2022 to be paid into Lagos State Parking Authority account within a period of seven (7) days of receiving this letter.”
In a Facebook post, the Founder, Nellies, Nelly Agbogu lamented the payment of parking “inside her office premises”.
Agbogu wrote, “We now pay to park in our compound in our office? I swear my tired is tired! If not for the grace of God! I want to sincerely japa! Nigeria has a way of crushing your dreams.”
She later apologised after getting clarification from the agency.
Agbogu wrote, “After my post, yesterday on parking, the General Manager for Parking authorities through the LASG came to my office today to confirm what happened.
“I wasn’t in the office, however, after a phone call, we realized that the person who brought the letter told my staff “within the premises” and to our understanding “within” includes the compound and our pavement after the fence. However, outside as the letter stated belongs to the Government (which made me to post “inside” and we apologize for that).
“Now from what they explained, after the perimeter fence (between the fence and the gutter) belongs to the government and that is where we are to pay, or any car seen there will be towed. I have informed them that we will tell our customers to park inside. Thank you everyone for helping us get this sorted.”
Following this, LASPA on its website said the property was charged for parking cars on the setback belonging to the government.
LASPA General Manager, Adebisi Adelabu said the agency would not charge on cars parked in any compound.
Adelabu said, “The general public MUST be aware that LASPA or any of its staffers or agents WILL NOT charge on cars parked in any compound but if anyone parks on the setback, such person, organisation or group of persons will be charged accordingly.
“A setback (for obvious reasons) is the space between your perimeter fencing and the walkway or the road, as the case may be. Whoever claims he/she owns a setback around his/her property will have to provide official documentation from the Authorized MDA in Lagos State showing the legal ownership of the said setback and the TRAFFIC IMPACT ASSESSMENT (TIA) certificate of the property to the authority.
“The general public should please be equipped with this important information going forward. The Authority frowns at such malicious statements and falsehood.”
In 2021, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, established LASPA to promote parking policies in line with national transport policies by advancing knowledge, raising standards, and assessment of related fees.
LASPA on its website said the parking levy is imposed on corporate organisations with on-street/setback parking lots and all car park operators — commercial and non-commercial.
