Land–grabbing and crimes associated with private land transactions would be a thing of the past, according to the All Progressives Congress, Lagos State governorship candidate, Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
Sanwo-Olu described land-grabbing as “criminal and primitive,” and has promised that perpetrators would not have a safe haven in the state.
If elected, Sanwo-Olu said his administration would strengthen the Land-Grabbing Committee, and the panel would be empowered to prosecute perpetrators.
Sanwo-Olu disclosed this when members of Estate Rent and Commission Agent Association of the Nigeria (ERCAAN) paid him a courtesy visit at his campaign office in GRA, Ikeja area of the state.
He said: “We have had various complaints about activities of land-grabbers and we are ready to tackle this problem when we come on board. We understand the implication of land-grabbing for the economy of Lagos and preventable losses incurred by investors; as a result of the activities of land grabbers.
“To tackle the issue, we will need to look at the activities of existing Land Grabbing Committee and strengthen the law setting it up; to properly address the issues.To promote investment in property development sector, we have to stop the land-grabbers. We will also fast-track the process of the issuance of C of O. We are going to sanitise the procedures and restore the confidence of real estate investors in the government to protect their investment. When we remove the red tape, people will create wealth and more businesses would come up. We want to discourage the trend of locking down asset because of inability to get title for land.”
ERCAAN Chairman in Lagos, Comrade Kazeem Adesina, described as “laudable,” the home ownership scheme of the Lagos state government, which took off during the administration of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and added that members believe in his leadership capacity; to take the state to another level of development.