31st May, 2018
By Kazeem Ugbodaga
Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode has approved reduction in land regularisation for thousands of landlords who encroached on land belonging to the Lagos State University, LASU, to build their structures.
Under the new land regularisation process, squatters will now pay N1.25 million for a plot to regularise their properties and become automatic owners of the property.
At a stakeholders’ meeting held at the Lagos Deputy Governor’s Office, in Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria on Thursday, Deputy Governor, Dr. Oluranti Adebule said at the last stakeholders meeting, stakeholders requested from the governor that they did not want to be LASU’s tenants and that they wanted the process of regularisation to be seamless, while admitting that they illegally encroached on government’s land.
“Governor Akinwumi Ambode has agreed and given the concession that you will not be LASU tenant anymore and that henceforth, you are no longer LASU tenants. He has also agreed that the annual payment to LASU will no longer be there anymore.
“The governor has also agreed that we will go on with the process of land regularisation and not demolish your properties, except those who deliberately went into LASU compound,” she said.
Adebule explained that after valuation of land in the area, putting market values in the front burner, government came up with N3.9 million to be paid for the regularisation of one plot of land, saying this included the cost of obtaining Certificate of Occupancy, survey, among others.
“When we took this amount to Governor Ambode, he gave us consideration of 67 percent rebate. This means that for a plot, you will be paying N1.25 million instead of N3.9 million. We want the process to be seamless; we gave a timeline at that time, but the timeline will no longer exist. We are going to set a new timeline for ourselves for the process of payment to be seamless,” she stated.
According to her, the Office of the Special Adviser to the Governor on Education, with the Surveyor General, would draw up a team for this process to be seamless, saying that there would be a desk officer to attend to the needs of the stakeholders.
“Government will make the process very seamless and open. We will pass information across to you through the website and make sure you are ready with your documentation when the time comes for you to regularise your land. We will ensure we drive this matter to a conclusion,” she added.
Earlier, Special Adviser to the Governor on Education, Obafela Bank-Olemoh said in 2016, Ambode gave the mandate of ensuring proper land regularisation of the LASU land encroachment issues.
He explained that since the mandate was given, stakeholders meetings had been held with the squatters, which resulted the magnanimity of the governor making pronouncements in favour of residents in the area.
A community leader, Alhaji Taofik Aina, Baale of Igbo Elerin and Sunday Kapo, Banise CDA chairman commended Ambode for slicing the money they were to pay to regularise their properties.