Estate surveyors seek abolition of Land Use Act

The Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV), a body of all the Estate Surveyors and Valuers in the country, has urged Government at all levels to expunge the Land Use Act from the Nigeria Legal System in order to remove all bottlenecks that impede smooth application and documentation of land titles as well as land allocations.

Speaking at ahead of 53rd Annual Conference of NIESV holding in Ilorin, Kwara State capital, Johnbull Amayaevbo, the President and Chairman of NIESV, declared that quite a number of clauses in the Act are archaic and no longer fashionable with current trends in the industry, saying if Nigeria must be ranked high in the World Bank Ranking on Ease of Doing Business, unhindered and easy access to land, landed property and land title documents must be properly looked into.

Amayaevbo, who spoke to the Media in Ilorin on Monday, noted that the Federal Government and some State Government that combined Ministry of Works and Hosuing should unbundle them for easy management, adding that Ministry of Land and Housing should be created instead of Ministry of Works and Housing being lumped together.

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“The Act is long overdue to be removed from the Constitution so as to amend it easily. You don’t just leave that kind of thing for 45 years on land when lots of things are changing periodically. We plead with both Federal and State Governments to remove it as it will not affect their powers.

“One of the major clauses in that Land Use Act is that the land is entrusted in the citizen of the State and in the Government of that State, remember today you are in the Government and tomorrow you will not be there.

“Land is very important in production and should be seen as veritable tool for development and growing economy. Governments have to look inward on land matters, if properly managed, it will be of great impact on our IGR. Government should come up with the Ministry of Land and Housing and not Ministry of Works and Housing as we have it”, he said.

He however asked President Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government to take stringent measures against corruption, which he said has eaten deep in almost all the sectors, explaining that theme of the Conference, tagged, “Asset Valuation as a Global Anti-Corruption Tool: The Nigeria Experience”, is targeted at the formulation of effective policies and strategies to combat corruption and enhance transparency in the system.