The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola has contested that problems encountered in Nigeria’s Land Use Act is not with the law itself but rather with its implementation.
Fashola gave the hint when he received a delegation of the Nigeria Institute of Estate Surveyors (NIESV) in his office recently. According to the minister, who insisted that repealing the law will not be an end to problems in the housing sector, the solution lies in having accurate data of empty houses in the cities.
Challenging the NIESV to come up with accurate data on the housing issue, he said it would help towards solving the housing problem, while further noting that “communities fighting over land resulted in enacting the Land Use Act”. Every section of the Act has been interpreted by the Supreme Court. Administration of the law is the problem not the law itself”.
He explained that there is more demand in housing due to constant rural-urban migration giving rise to squatters in the city, adding that “when demand exceeds supply, it creates scarcity.”
Earlier, the NIESV delegation led by their president, Emmanuel Wike, concurred with the minister’s recent assertion that Nigeria does not have a 17 million housing deficit.
Wike said “We are in total agreement with you on the unreliability of the 17million housing deficit being brandished in Nigeria for lacking scientific proof.
“We are using this opportunity to reaffirm the importance of data bank and our commitment to the provision of a property data bank for all state capitals and major cities in Nigeria.”
