The Federal Government on Wednesday commenced a process to review the Land Use Act.
The Director, Lands and Housing of the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, Godwin Ityoachimin, disclosed this at the 27th conference of Directors of Lands in the Federal and State ministries titled “The Land Use Act and management responsibilities of the federating units”.
Godwin stated that it had become necessary to commence the process due to numerous friction between state and federal governments on land administration.
According to him, the friction has impeded promises made to Nigerians in terms of infrastructure and housing provision.
While speaking to journalists, he said, “This conference is a peer review platform where we come together to review the land administration processes in view of existing challenges and changes in the economy and what we need to do to improve the system and impact positively on the welfare of the people.
“At this conference, we are taking a critical look at the land use act and its inherent challenges. The land use act is the ground law for the administration and control of land in Nigeria since 1978. It has not been reviewed and the law is as good the people who implement it.
“It has been challenging relating with the tiers of government in the past as state governors are ascribed so many powers, while it is true the law gives them so many powers but in the exercise of those powers, there are abuses.
“At the Federal level, it impacts negatively on our services as we can’t fulfill promises made to Nigerians in terms of infrastructure and housing provision.
“Some of our projects have been stalled because of constraints inherent in the process of the land acquisition. Sometimes, lands vested in the federal government get seized by states government because of the value of those properties.
“We hope to review the limitations enshrined in the law to establish boundaries that are defined by the intent of the law so that if you are operating from the angle of the federal angle, you know your limitations and also what the law allows you to do.
“We need to address those conflicts so that as drivers of the processes we eliminate conflicts as much as possible for the good of the country.”