The Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to revisit the issue of amendment to the Land Use Act in liaison with the National Assembly, as the country stands to benefit immensely from the amendment.
Speaking in Abuja during a courtesy call on the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, the President of the Association, Chief Emmanuel Okas Wike, who led the team said the Land Use Act of 1978 had brought about “misapplication and denial of access to land by the poor and low income earning citizens who by virtue of their citizenship would normally have had access to their communal land but who unfortunately are stripped of access and entitlement.”
According to him, the lands are eventually allocated to speculators and affluent developers who further put the land and housing beyond the reach of the poor.
Chief Wike also urged the President to look into the issue of Governors’ consent to land transactions such as sale assignment and transfer of mortgage, which the Institution saw as fraught with encumbrances. He said without this consent, a land owner cannot get a certificate of occupancy which could serve as a mortgage asset.
The Institution also implored the President to mandate the Head of Service to liaise with the Minister of Works and Housing for the creation of the Office of the Valuer-General of the Federation in Federal and State Civil Services, stressing that its creation would “enhance the impacts and services of the professionally trained Estate Surveyors and Valuers.”
Chief Wike added that the Institution looks forward to a mutuality benefiting synergy between its members and the Federal Government, while assuring of unflinching commitment to the goals and policy direction of the government of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Other issues presented in the letter for the President’s intervention include the incursion of non-professionals into the profession and the need for Insurance Valuation of Government Assets nationwide.
While thanking the visitors for their selfless interest in the development of Nigeria and Nigerians, Mr Adesina assured that he would convey their requests to the appropriate quarters.
The Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers is a non-profit professional body set up in 1969 and backed by Act No 24 of 1975.
Photo caption: Chief Emmanuel Okas Wike (right) and Mr Emmanuel Alao, with Femi Adesina during the visit to State House, Abuja