A legal expert at the public college to honor the legal egghead, Alhaji Femi Okunnu (SAN), has identified the defects associated with the Land Use Act (LUA), which was enacted 45 years ago, attributed to bad draftsmanship, among other factors .
Separate papers submitted by senior lawyers such as, Dr. Muiz Banire (SAN) and Remi Olatubora, titled, ‘Land Use Act: Some Reflections, 45 Years After’ and ‘Land Administration in Nigeria: 45 Years After, Enactment of Land Use Act, 1978’, stated that Nigerians fail to get the desired benefits from the LUA.
According to them, the main objective of the Act, among others, is to make land easily accessible to all Nigerians; prevent speculative land purchases; streamlining and simplifying land management and ownership; making land available to governments at all levels for development; and to provide a system that will increase security of tenure.
However, in his evaluation, he said that the objective was not achieved, which he considered to be a poor and imprudent draft of the law, among other factors.
Banire specifically stated that the Act has failed to produce the desired benefits for Nigerians. He said: “Poor and unscrupulous drafting of the Act should be taken into account. If there is an opportunity in the future, it would be better to get the most qualified draftsman to handle the drafting of such legislation.
Another area where the senior lawyer erred was, the issuance of two occupancy certificates, one by the federal and the other by the state.
He said that the multiplication of the land registry should be tilted and only the state should operate the registry.
Among his views, the lawyer stated that the rules of engagement with operational rules should be left entirely in the hands of the state.
According to him, the membership of the Land Utilization and Allocation Committee should be determined in the relevant laws and made to have a statutory position when released by the House of Assembly. This, he said, would check the absolute and excessive power of the governor.
He also said that the dichotomy between the land under the control of the state and the local government should be removed, while one authority manages all the land in the State to avoid confusion in this regard.
Olatubora, in his lecture, said that every country is saddled with land management in its area, there must be an electronic platform or a national integrated registry that can access land information.
Lawyers also suggested that land issues should be included in the Concurrent Legislative List to help develop an integrated, uniform and consistent land management policy.
As part of his recommendations, he said the current dichotomy between urban and non-urban land, where land under LUAC/Governor’s Management and LG Council’s Management should be eliminated.
“All land in every state must be under the management of the governor/LUAC with the uniform C of O issued by the governor,” he said.
He said the membership of LUAC should be expanded to include representatives from traditional institutions, community development associations, and Civil Society Organizations.
Olatubora said LUAC professional members should be nominated by professional organisations
In addition, the court should be empowered to determine the amount or adequacy of compensation if any land is required by the State.
He said that bureaucracy related to land administration and management in the land registry should be simplified through the application of technology.