Lagos State Government is poised to introduce electronic C of O by January 2021 to tackle sharp practices by land grabbers, owners, speculators and even officials of government in the state.
Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, announced that sharp practices that have bedeviled landownership in the state will become history January 21 when electronic C of O will come into effect.
This comes after the state government received over 4,300 petitions on land grabbing. Consequently, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu also warned land and property permit-approving agencies that his administration would no longer tolerate officers engaging in sharp practices in issuing approvals.
Speaking at the maiden Lagos Real Estate Market Place Conference and Exhibition with the theme: Unearthing real opportunities in real estate, making Lagos a 21st century economy, Sanwo-Olu stated that residents and real estate practitioners were complaining about turnaround time for permit approval.
He advised the Ministry of Physical Planning and agencies under it, such as the Lagos State Physical Planning Permit Agency and Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA), on the need to scale up and do better job in physical planning approvals. He said real estate sector had the capacity to redefine the GDP (GDP) of the state more so as it occupies only 0.3 per cent of the country
Sanwo-Olu: “We, as a government, have looked at ourselves and seen the need to do things differently. That is why we have to sit down with you, because one of the areas I know you have problems with us is not only in lands but also in physical planning.
“We need to do a better job of physical planning; we need to do a better job of LASBCA and we need to do a quicker turnaround in our lands department, as the people want to have a positive experience.
“We have started it, we have solution on this GIS for a while, and its a project we are desirous to live on. Once it kick-starts, what it means is that its one stop shop. With it, you will be able to get your governors consent, approval and Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) on time, as well as all of the documentation for subsequent transaction.”
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