The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Land

  • Court orders forfeiture of Diezani’s N325.4m land

    A Federal High Court in Lagos yesterday temporarily forfeited to the Federal Government a parcel of land in Lekki, Lagos State, linked to a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke.

    Justice Babs Kuewumi made the order following an ex-parte application by Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) counsel, Mr. Anslem Ozioko.

    Joined as defendants in the ex-parte applications were Diezani, one Mr. Donald Amamgbo and a firm, Mez Group LLC.

    The land, valued at N325.4 million, is designated as Plot 13, Block II, Oniru Chieftaincy Private Family Estate.

    Ozioko told the judge that the land was suspected to have been acquired with proceeds of crime.

    Justice Kuewumi also directed the anti-graft agency to publish the temporary forfeiture order in a national daily to put interested parties on notice.

    He adjourned till July 14, for anyone interested in the property to appear before him to show cause why the land should not be permanently forfeited.

    The EFCC is seeking an order of the court to appoint “a competent person(s) or firm to manage the assets/property named and described in the schedule to this application”.

    An EFCC investigator, Abdulrasheed Bawa, said the anti-graft agency stumbled on the documents of the land sometime in 2016 while executing a search on the office of Amamgbo, an ally of the ex-petroleum minister.

    Bawa said the anti-graft agency also recovered from Amamgbo’s office an undated report titled, “Highly Confidential Attorney Work Product August Report,” among others.

    He added: “The report contained a list of 18 companies and several properties located in the United Kingdom, Nigeria and the United States of America.

    “During the course of his interview, Mr. Donald Chidi Amamgbo told us that he registered the 18 companies to assist Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke in holding titles of her properties and that all the properties belong to her.”

     

     

     

  • Estate surveyors urged on opportunities in land

    Estate surveyors have been urged to explore the  Geographic Information System (GIS) in land administration as it provides great business oportunities and strategies for  practitioners and the government.

    The Deputy Director Estate, Lagos State Ministry of Housing, Mrs. Olayinka Patunola-Ajayi, gave the advice at a Stakeholders’ meeting of the Faculty of Land Administration and Geographic Information System (GIS) of the Nigeria Institute of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV).

    According to her, GIS involves centralising land and information about its ownership under one authority which regulates the structure and patterns of ownership, land use, and access of the public to land resources in a sustainable manner from environmental and economic perspectives. A good land administration system, she maintained, aims at equitable distribution of wealth to encourage  growth and development.

    She described the GIS as a powerful tool in the management and analysis of the large amount of basic data and information – statistical, spatial and temporal – to generate information in the form of maps, tabular and textual reports or land use decisions. It also provides the tool for modernising and improving the management system, efficiently, functionally and flexiby, which make it the most adopted system of land administration across the world.

    “The GIS involves two fields -mechanical/statistical and geographical representation of land and the various reasons for the adoption of the GIS are increased in the amount of land documentation growth, global challenges technology development, improved data quality among others.

    Urging real estate professionals to be determined to create wealth from land for the benefit of the citizenry, she noted that the GIS provides opportunities for stakeholders to increase their data and service provision within their traditional domain.

    Patunola-Ajayi said to take advantage of the opportunities, practitioners must take the bull by the horn and call for a synergy with the government and private entities to ensure that the benefits of GIS were reaped.

    She, however, noted that GIS has the potential to support society’s evolving humankind and land relationship by providing information to make favourable decisions for sustainable development in land management.

    Land, as a basic economic resource, she further explained, is incontrovertible. This is because apart from being a fundamental base for all economic activities and also a source of food and sustenance, land offers the greatest support for an efficient market economy, particularly because of its ability to be used as collateral for loans to other productive activities, among others.

    Another surveyor, Mr. Akinade Tijani, sees land as an asset which includes anything on the ground, such as building, crops, fences, trees, water above the ground and under the ground. Therefore, he argued, land administration is a process whereby land and the information about it is effectively managed.

    However, Tijani explained that as population increases and resources became scarce, the competition for land become more intense and man began to realise that he could get more from less if he applied his intellect. This would not have been possible, if he did not have control over the asset, thereby leading to the evolution of land administration.

    Other reasons for land administration, according to Tijani, include to provide and guarantee stability in the way land is accessed; to implement land-related laws and policies, to ensure economic development, to ensure security of tenure and to ensure stability and certainty in the land market, and to raise revenue.

    Tijani explained the GIS as a computer-based system for the handling of geographically referenced information. He described it as a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyse, manage and present spatial or geographic data. The system also has the capability to link attribute or relational data to spatial data.

    “GIS is conceived manly as set tools to assist in many human activities that can be geo-referenced. The application of GIS to land administration was pioneered in the Scandinavian region of Europe and they preferred the term land information system which means a geographic information system for cadastral and land use mapping, typically consisting of an accurate, current and reliable land record, cadasters and associated attributes,” he explained.

    Tijani also spoke about the components of land administration, corresponding agencies, organisations and bodies for administering the identified processes in Lagos State which are; Land Use and Allocation Office, Lagos State Lands Registry, Lagos state valuation office etc., including noting the requirement for participation in the process of Land administration and the opportunities available to practitioners.

    On the presentation, the Faculty of Land Administration and GIS of NIESV Chairman, Mr. Dapo Ogunlewe, said they were eye- opening for its members and had further enhanced their knowledge about opportunities of the GIS.

    “The papers were really eye- opening.They made us to see so many opportunities that exist businesswise in the area of land administration, the way and manner our members can benefit financially and do better things with it,” Ogunlewe added.

     

  • Vice Chancellor decries invasion of varsity’s land

    Vice Chancellor decries invasion of varsity’s land

    •Says FUTO under siege

    The Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), Prof. Francis Eze, has said the university is threatened by the activities of land speculators who have invaded its land.

    Prof. Eze lamented that the encroachment on the university land, by unauthorised land grabbers, poses serious danger to lives and property of the management and students, as well as the corporate existence of the institution.

    The VC, who addressed reporters at the Senate Chambers, said the forceful takeover of the institution’s land recently assumed a dangerous dimension with the pulling down of the exit gate and the security house by the invaders.

    He said: “The University duly acquired the land in compliance with laid down procedures, including the full payment of all settlements to the host communities. But the recent encroachment on its land is so overwhelming that you can call it an invasion.”

    Prof. Eze, who conducted reporters round the institution’s boundaries with their host communities of Eziobodo, Iheagwa, Obinze and Avu, warned that “all those patronising land speculators, buying FUTO’s land and building on them, will lose their money as the buildings will be demolished.

    “We have started the perimeter fencing of the university, at a huge cost, just to protect the land.

    “Last time, some people brought heavy equipment and pulled down our gate house. It is that bad but we will no longer allow that. All those buying and building on FUTO land are doing so at their own risk,” the VC added.

  • Villagers petition Obasanjo over land row with aide

    Villagers petition Obasanjo over land row with aide

    An aide to ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, Chief Sheu Oladunjoye, and residents of Akinbiye, Ikalugbase and Ikereku in Ogun State are fighting over 53 acres Oladunjoye allegedly bought from them.

    The residents have written to Obasanjo.

    Oladunjoye said Obasanjo informed him about their letter, saying that the villagers misrepresented and defamed him in the letter.

    The aide added that the petition, signed by a lawyer, Innocent Okoihue, and dated December 11, accused him of fraud.

    The petitioners, according to him, claimed that efforts to stop work on the land failed.

    According to him, he (Oladunjoye) drove them away and deprived them “rights of access to their family land”.

    Although Okoihue admitted that the petitioners (villagers) were given N3 million “for transport” during a visit to Oladunjoye to discuss the land, they want Obasanjo to intervene.

    Addressing reporters and residents in Abeokuta, the capital, at the weekend, Oladunjoye threatened to sue the villagers, if they failed to retract “defamatory materials” in their petition.

    He claimed to have paid N5 million to their representatives for the land, valued at N10.6 million, pending a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) before the balance would be paid.

    Oladunjoye wondered how that became an issue.

    He added that some of them, including Chief Aremu Makinde and Moruf Muritala (representing Fatoki family), were paid for a section of Ikalugbase  land while Mr Semiu Babalola reportedly received part-payment for the portion at Ikereku-Onigbongbo.

    According to him, he moved started work on the land because buyer and sellers hailed from the same area.

    Oladunjoye hoped that once the MoU is signed, the balance will be paid.

    On behalf of the villages, Semiu Babalola, who was in company of 13 other residents, admitted that they collected N5 million from Oladunjoye.

    Babalola denied knowledge of how the petition to Obasanjo against Oladunjoye came about, but pledged that the matter will be resolved.

  • Lalong denies carving out land mass for cattle colonies

    Lalong denies carving out land mass for cattle colonies

    The Plateau State Government will not be a party to the proposed cattle colonies, Governor Simon Lalong declared yesterday.

    The governor described as “false, malicious and highly mischievous” reports in the social media that he had carved out parts of Riyom, Barkin Ladi and Bokkos local government areas for the creation of cattle colonies.

    The governor’s Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, Dan Manjang, who broke the news of the government’s decision, advised all peace-loving citizens of Plateau State to “discountenance such mischievous information” and embrace issues that unite rather than divide them.

    Manjang, in a statement in Jos, said: “The attention of the Executive Governor of Plateau State, Rt. Hon. Simon Bako Lalong, has been drawn to the news making the rounds, particularly in the social media, that parts of Riyom, Barkin Ladi and Bokkos LGAs have been carved out for the creation of colonies for cattle, in fulfilment of his promises to the Fulani who have pressured him to either cede those areas or face their vicious side, which may cost him his aspirations.

    “The governor herein states unequivocally that this thinking is not only a figment of the imagination of its authors who want to make political capital out of it, it is false, malicious and highly mischievous.

    “Governor Simon Bako Lalong does not contemplate such action, and he further calls on all good citizens of Plateau to bury such imagination of these elements (who are) bent on throwing the state into confusion. Cattle colonies are not in the imagination of Governor Lalong.

  • Family: govt forcing us off of our land

    Who owns the 11 hectares of land behind Shoprite on Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie Road in Sangotedo, Ajah?

    The Oyetubo-Jokotade family of Sangotedo and the New Town Development Authority (NTDA), an agency of the Lagos State Ministry of Lands are claiming ownership.

    The family said the property is part of the 201.112 hectares allocated to it in 1996 by the Lagos State Government in a resettlement agreement.

    It said the 201.112 hectares, described as Sangotedo Lekki Peninsula Sub-Region Block L, is covered by a Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) registered as 75/75/1996AE issued to the family on June 17, 1996.

    It’s lawyer, Tunde Popoola, told The Nation that the family has been prevented from building on or exercising ownership over land by the NTDA.

    Popoola said the NTDA told the family that the state government had excised the 11 hectares from the 201.112 hectares, but the agency provided no proof for its claim.

    It said it filed a suit against the government at the High Court in Epe, but the NTDA allegedly continued demolishing properties on the land on three occasions.

    The family claimed that on November 15, NTDA and Lagos State Bureau of Land officials, protected by armed mobile policemen entered the property and chased away members of the family, before demolishing three buildings under construction and a fence.

    Popoola said: “It is on this basis we took it on ourselves to find out what is behind this destruction, because we have a C of O and the survey of the area was not done by the family, it was done by surveyors from the Lagos State Government at Alausa. So, what exactly is happening?

    “When we went to NTDA, another story emerged that the 11 hectares was excised by the Lagos State Government because the family failed to pay a fee demanded by the government.

    “I said that was not possible, because if that was the case, the government would have revoked the C of O.

    “We want to know if the Lagos State Government is behind the action or a cabal within Alausa? We want to bring this to the notice of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode.

    “This particular place they are laying claim to, if you get to survey department and input the land coordinates in their system, it will bring out the family’s name.

    “They said the land had been reallocated to another company. If that is the case, the name of that company should be in the computer at Alausa if you chart the land coordinates, but it is not there. What is there is the family’s name.

    But the Ministry of Lands’ Public Relations Officer, Kayode Sutton, said the family’s C of O does not cover the hectares of land in question.

    Sutton said: “The entire parcels of land wherein the demolitions occurred belong to the Lagos State Government. The lands in question were allocated by the government to new owners in 2014.

    “I suspect that the owners didn’t go there to take possession, so land grabbers began encroaching on the property and, following complaints, government waded in to say ‘No, you cannot take it, we have allocated it to a certain number of people and they have paid for it. It behoves us as a government to uphold their rights to the land they paid for.’

    “Whenever government acquires land, it pays compensation to the owner.”

    Sutton explained that when such land remains vacant for a period of time, it attracts land grabbers, who may or may not be from the land-owning families.

    According to him, such land grabbers pretend to be unaware that representatives of the landowning families were compensated and begin re-selling the land to unsuspecting buyers.

    “We always tell prospective land buyers to always come to the Bureau of Lands or Office of the State Surveyor-General with their survey and they will be given the details of the land. But many people don’t listen,” he said.

  • Oxford rewards workers,gives plot of land to customers

    Oxford rewards workers,gives plot of land to customers

    Oxford Commercial Services International Limited has given awards to 13 members of its staff for their dedication and committment.

    Some of the awardees are: the Managing Director, Teni Adesanya, who won the Leadership Award; Head of Operation, Mr. Oti (Jonathan Business Leadership); Public Relations Officer, Mr. Lesli Ademola (Perfect Presence); Mr. Bayo Egbetokun (Excellence Award); Kunle Adesanya (Manager of the Year) and a host of others.

    At the ceremony, which held at Havanna Hotels and Suit, Egbeda, Lagos , recently,the firm also gave  out a free plot of land to one of its customers, Mrs. Akinbode Olajumoke, who won a raffle draw organised by the company to mark its first year anniversary.

    Apart from the free plot of land, located at Atan-Ota, Ogun State, with  receipt number 457, the outfit also gave out discounts ranging from 25 to 75 per cent as well as consolation prizes.

    When The Nation Shopping spoke with some of the winners, they expressed their gratitude to God and to Oxford Commercial Services.

    For instance, Mrs. Lateefat Abasi, who won a 50 per cent discount, expressed  gratitude to the company’s management. She said played the lottery with N1000 she borrowed from her friend, Mrs. Funmilayo Daudu.

    She said: “I’m so happy because I wasn’t expecting it. That is why it is good to be optimistic. It was my friend that lent me N1, 000  to subscribe for the land because I didn’t have enough money. I subscribed for half plot at Ewekoro, which costs N200,000 but now I will be paying N150,000.

    “It was Mrs. Toyin Adebayo, a staff of Oxford that spoke about the land promo to me yesterday and I just decided to come see how its being done,” she said.

    She said; “When Obatunde, a staff of Oxford, spoke about the land promo, some people said it was a scam. But I only came to see by myself if it’s real. I subscribed for Atan-Ota half plot worth of N175, 000 but now I will be given a full plot that cost N250, 000,” she said.

    Speaking at the ceremony, the firm’s Managing Director, Mr. Adesanya, said that the anniversary also coincided with the launch of its Oxford Flexy Housing Scheme.

    “The Oxford Flexy will give you opportunity to complete your payment in five years and allocation will be given to you immediately you pay your first instalment,” he explained.

  • Digital land administration:  Al-Makura signs 1,800 Cs-of-O in six years

    Digital land administration:  Al-Makura signs 1,800 Cs-of-O in six years

    The Governor of Nasarawa State, Alhaji Umaru Tanko Almakura, has signed over 1,800 Certificates of Occupancy  (Cs-of-O) since assumption of office in 2011.

    The issuance of the Cs of O was in line with the  digital land administration policy put in place by the governor.

    The Commissioner for  Lands and Town Planning, Mr. Sonny Agassi, made this known yesterday in an interview with newsmen in Lafia, the state capital.

    Agassi said the Nasarawa Geographic Information Services (NAGIS), a component of the Nasarawa Development Platform, has revolutionized land administration in the state, making it possible for land owners to process their land titles within 24 hours.

    He said between1996 and 1999 when the military held sway, a total of 310 certificates were issued.

    He said  while  214 Certificates of Occupancy were issued between 1999 and 2007, 24 certificates were signed and delivered  from 2007 to 2011.

    He said NAGIS has supported Almakura administration’s policy thrust  through the “strengthening of decision making by providing spatial information, data and services to all government ministries and agencies.”

    He  said the computerization of the cadastral and land registry has also “provided a platform for transparent land transactions and the optimization of workflows  which has improved efficiency in land administration and improved revenue generation, thereby making it possible to project the signing of over 5000 Cs-of-O before 2019.”

    While advising members of the public to take advantage of the robust land policy in the state, Agassi said land management in the state has “stimulated economic development by enabling citizens and private enterprises to register land and property and secure their investments in a transparent and safe system”

    He added: “This has resulted in significant increases in revenues generated. It is important to note that these revenues are sustainable as conveying more Cs-of-O will result in increased ground rent collections”.

    “As more people obtain Cs-of-O,  there is increased investment in the development of new property resulting in development control charges, property taxes and tenement rates”.

    The commissioner emphasized that other remarkable benefits of his administration’s land policy include the complete mapping of the entire state with 10cm ortho-photos of six urban areas and 25cm for all rural areas covering a total of 27,000 square-kilometres of digital aerial photography, the only state in the entire country to complete such mapping.

  • Ondo, land of brave and virtuous

    This is Ondo State, the land of the brave and virtuous. This is a geographical space richly endowed by nature. This is our collective haven; an impregnable fortress for the protection of the weak and the underdog, a place where everyone is held and treated as important. We are proud inheritors of this enviable heritage from our forebears. We are bold, yet not foolhardy, resourceful, pragmatic and hospitable, but far from being stupid. We show understanding, readily, but resist all attempts by the impetuous and naïve, who mistake the craving for collaboration for the much-needed progress as weakness. We must remain consistent and resilient in the defence of this collective heritage.

    I should, therefore, hasten to admonish that there is indeed little or no time for endless celebrations. These appointments must be seen as a call to service at this critical juncture in the life of our dear state. As our administration renews its pledge to the people to be accountable at all times, there is the urgent need for rededication by all those who serve the public.  We must encourage broad and massive participation of our people in the business of government.

    Government and governance should not be stultifying abstractions, distant and disconnected from the service to which these modern concepts evolved to proffer. Those who lay claims to legitimacy of representation, as deriving from the people, must always keep their focus on this time-tested objective. Governance should not be reduced to a circus show; specious, ostentatious and profligate exhibition of inanities. Any decision or action of acclaimed representatives of the people must be an answer to identifiable socio-economic challenge. Elected and appointed public officials must subject their individual preferences to the collective will. Performance must be measured in terms of its positive impact on the people.

    If development is about the people, all decisions and actions must be for the realisation of this lofty objective. Any opportunity offered for service must be understood in this context. Nobody must consider his/her choice, out of numerous other equally eminent candidates, as an invitation to primitive self-aggrandisement. This administration will not permit it. Any conduct which seeks to perpetuate the misery of the people will be discouraged actively.

    No appointment is “juicy”. Every ministry, agency and established public office is important. This administration shall extend equal attention to all offices. It would be a mistake, with grave consequences, for anyone to act in a manner which negates decency and decorum. There will be zero tolerance for all acts considered unbecoming of patriotic indigenes of this state.  We will simply not allow them.

    As the ship of this administration finally gathers steam to set sail, it is pertinent to acquaint the good people of this state with the true financial situation. We believe it is important that our people should possess this information. This must not be construed as politics and we plead with our media practitioners to subject this information to the crucible of serious scrutiny and analysis.  The knowledge of true financial status of the state government will guide and moderate the craving desires of all and sundry. Expectations of performance from the government must be anchored on reality. Government officials must bear this fact in mind, always.  It will be easy for the people to show understanding when they know the truth.

    The economic condition of this state is precarious, depressingly so. We expend virtually all allocations and the insignificant revenue generated internally on recurrent expenditure. The internally generated revenue is very low. The huge debts owed by the state have been worsened by infrastructural deficit on ground. Yet we strive to discharge our obligations to creditors whose exactions on our very poor revenue militate, significantly, against planning.

    The government is looked upon as the major provider of succour to the people. Times are indeed very hard.  Job creation is a cardinal policy of the administration. We are not unmindful of the cynicism of our political opponents who believe that engaging our youths productively is a tall order.  We are, however, convinced of not only the possibility of making this objective a reality, but our activities will erase the doubts as we progress.  All hands must be on deck.

    This administration at inception met a staggering debt totalling N220,588,125,731.00 (Two hundred and twenty billion, five hundred and eighty-eight million, one hundred and twenty-five thousand, seven hundred and thirty-one naira).

    With a total inherited debt of over N220 billion, it should not be difficult for anyone to know that the government’s capacity for seeming elastic adjustment to cater for the people has been stretched to its limit. There is no gain asserting the obvious; our administration is not in any position for frivolities. All of us must gird our loins for the great task ahead. The picture is not good. Therefore, all acts with the potential of pushing us deeper into economic crisis must be jettisoned. We earnestly promise to provide the needed leadership.

    Despite the challenges encountered by our administration since assumption of office, we have approached governance with resilient determination. Paucity of funds has been a major encumbrance as explained earlier. To put out this quagmire, we have already commenced the process of re-engineering our Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) efforts which will soon begin to yield the desired results.  The administration has, however, been able to embark on projects which impact positively on the lives and general well-being of our people. We are beginning to register our presence in the consciousness of the people through our activities in virtually all sectors.

    Imbued with the unshaken belief that an environment with a developed infrastructure is that which is ready for progress, we have been able to intervene to bridge the very wide gap in infrastructural deficit.

    Our intention is to turn our dear state into a hub of socio-economic activities. We are determined to stimulate the economic space for the benefit of our people. The commencement of regular flights from Akure to Lagos, and continuation of Akure to Abuja has been a tremendous boost to the state. Businessmen and women, traders and all those who take investment seriously are trooping into our state with ease. Ondo State is indeed a veritable destination for investors. Air Peace Airline is making this possible. The transparent conduct of this administration and its insistence on discharging its mandate sincerely and courageously make good things happen.

    We promised to make life more abundant for our people. We will continue to strive to keep that vow within the available resources. We can turn things around positively. We only need men and women imbued with the necessary patriotic zeal and determination to do things differently. I enjoin us to make our appointments impactful on the generality of the people in the State. We must approach issues touching on their lives with seriousness.

     

    • …Excerpts of speech delivered by Ondo State Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu at the swearing-in ceremony of commissioners and Special Advisers.

  • Man in custody for ‘N350,000 land fraud’

    In Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State Chief Magistrates’ Court, has remanded a 31-year-old man, Lamidi Alaba, in prison custody for alleged fraud.

    Police prosecutor Caleb Leranmo told the court the accused committed the offence on June 23 at Ajebamidele in Ado-Ekiti.

    He alleged the accused obtained N350,000 from Falana John under the pretext of having a plot for sale.

    Leranmo said the accused committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 419 of Criminal Code Cap C16 Vol.1 Laws of Ekiti State 2012.

    The plea was not taken, as his counsel, Mr. Jantiku Mamsa, applied for his bail.

    The prosecutor opposed the bail application.

    He said the accused was a hardened criminal and would jump bail.

    The Chief Magistrate, Mr. Adesoji Adegboye, remanded the accused in custody and adjourned till August 16 for ruling on the bail application.