Senator Smart Adeyemi (APC-Kogi) has urged the Federal Government to introduce property tax on buildings in the Federal Capital Territory, especially unoccupied ones, to enhance revenue generation.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on the FCT said this at the opening of the committee’s meeting on Thursday in Abuja.
He said that the action became necessary given the growing number of uninhabited residential buildings in FCT.
According to him, the property tax could be used further to develop the city.
Adeyemi, who said the committee would be a working committee, said it was out to complement effort of the executive in further development of the FCT.
He said given the growing population in the FCT, there was the need for the government to improve the budget of the territory to enable it provide infrastructure for the residents and open up more districts in the city.
According to him, the N12.9 billion allocated to the FCT in the budget was inadequate.
Adeyemi said: “For the road to be good, for good security, what is allocated to Abuja today is far below what is required of this developing city.
“So we call on President Muhammadu Buhari before the presentation of the 2023 budget, we want an improvement in the capital vote for the FCT.”