The Land Use Act of March 1978 was promulgated to guarantee Nigerians a fair right to land. But almost five decades after, the feisty battle over ownership rights between states and residents is not abating, Bridget Chiedu Onochie and Tina Abeku curated this Report.

One of the major challenges confronting urban dwellers is the ever-rising cost of house rent. As one of the necessities of life, every citizen desires to own a house.

Unfortunately, the fear of the government’s forceful revocation of land or demolition of already built properties has discouraged many Nigerians from investing in land or buying completed structures in major cities of the country.

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has witnessed citizens’ forfeiture of thousands of Certificates of Occupancy (C-of-O) to the authority since last year for failure to comply with the rules of engagement.

Over 700 plots have lately been revoked in Maitama, a high-profile district in FCT, including those belonging to some past political office holders. In contrast, an additional 614 plot owners risk the same at the expiration of the two-week C-of-O payment deadline.

Also, the same government has recently demolished thousands of structures believed to be legitimately acquired, even with documented evidence. However, the Land Use Act of March 1978, also known as Decree No. 6 of 1978, has vested land administration and control over the state governors, who hold them in trust for the people and are responsible for their allocation and revocation.

Considering the imperative of shelter for human survival, property rights are guaranteed under Section 43 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). Human rights activist and former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), in his article titled: ‘The Legality of Government Restrictive Compensation under the Land Use Act (LUA)’, had explained that before the promulgation of the Act, there was serious public concern over the high cost of land in Nigeria.

“Land ownership was relatively concentrated in the hands of few influential persons in the society, who most often refused to release the land to the government to provide infrastructural development that will benefit the public. Even when released to the government, it was done at a cost far above its market value.

“To resolve these lingering issues, the Land Use Act was enacted to assert and preserve the rights of all Nigerians to the land of Nigeria; to assure, protect and preserve the rights of all Nigerians to the use and enjoy the land,” he said.

The Land Use Act curtailed absolute land ownership but kept it in the state’s care.   This also means that beyond expansion or development reasons, the government can revoke private land when developers fail to comply with standards or regulations. For instance, following the reoccurring flooding in Trade More Estate, Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) in 2022 marked 100 houses for demolition.

Also, in 2023, about 500 illegal structures were pulled down in the Dutsen-Garki Area of Apo District while the current Minister of FCT, Nyesom Wike, shortly after resumption of office, vowed to pull down over 6,000 alleged illegal structures in green areas of the city, even though most of them were legally acquired.

Properties worth over N200 billion were destroyed a few months ago, rendering more than 100 families homeless.The recent exercise in Sabon-Lugbe, FCT, further dampened Abuja residents’ zeal to acquire land for personal properties. Validly acquired estate structures from the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) were demolished before their owners. Efforts at making the minister understand that legitimate steps were taken to acquire their properties proved abortive.
Agbakoba, however, held that irrespective of the reason for revoking a legitimately acquired structure, it becomes a matter of trespass or abuse of power if the state government fails to approach the court before the revocation or demolition of a property.

Lead Counsel, Lateef Law Firm, Abdul-Jabbar Hashim Kolo, noted that revoking a parcel of land for public interest can be widely interpreted to mean anything that has to do with the welfare or well-being of the general public. He said this gives governors broad discretionary powers to do as they wish.

However, Kolo called on governors to adhere to due process, including fair hearings and due notices. He also reminded victims of their constitutional right to seek redress in a perceived rights abuse.

Meanwhile, thousands of FCT residents who applied for land to build their homes through the appropriate authority – Abuja Geographic Information Systems (AGIS)- have yet to receive fair answers for over a decade.

While efforts to ascertain the current number of pending applications failed as heads of departments were barred from speaking to the media, former director of Abuja Geographic Information Systems (AGIS), Isa Jalo, had, in a public remark, disclosed that FCTA received 7,826 applications for various plots of land in a year.

With this figure, over 35,000 applications would have been received by the authority in the past five years, and there was no information on the number of allocations to ordinary individuals within the period.

Many residents have alleged that while ordinary Nigerians are denied the privilege of securing land legitimately in FCT, estate developers and politicians obtain the same seamlessly.

Consequently, many people have remained tenants even when they could have afforded personal houses. AGIS had stipulated that to be allocated land in Abuja, interested candidates should complete the land application form and pay an application processing fee of N100,000 for commercial land and N50,000 for residential land at designated banks.

Many residents who complied with the instructions waited endlessly for allocation without success. However, as rents continue to rise, some people are becoming desperate to build their houses and escape landlords’ yearly rent increases.

Unfortunately, the hope of thousands of Nigerians waiting for allocation to build personal houses dims daily as the government appears indifferent to numerous applications waiting for answers.

An estate developer, Adamma Osadebe, admitted that it was almost impossible for an ordinary citizen to be allocated land in FCT by paying the official fee of N100,000 and N50,000, respectively.

The National Coordinator of the Human Rights Writers Association (HURIWA), Emmanuel Onwubiko, described the process as a herculean task if one is unrelated to politicians.

He also worries about “official scammers” within the AGIS, who can allocate a plot of land to several people. Other problems he identified include bureaucratic bottlenecks and corruption.

As the wave of demolitions across urban centres by constituted authorities continued to create a nightmare and spark widespread concern over the loss of homes and livelihoods, the effectiveness of regulatory agencies tasked with managing land use and property rights has also been questioned.

Many have blamed corruption among public officers handling land allocations and property issues. Often justified by the need to reclaim encroached government lands or clear slums, demolition remained a sensitive issue as it inflicts pains on victims to the extent of some losing their lives to grief, heart attack and other health complications arising from the shock.

Unfortunately for victims of land revocation or demolition, the principle of caveat emptor has placed the onus of risk squarely on property buyers. This disclaimer term used in legal contracts states that the buyer should beware and undertake due diligence before buying a property. Yet, many fall victim to the government’s bulldozers.

One of the recent victims, Nicholas Ukachukwu, was reported to have lost N11 billion property in Asokoro to demolition over a breach of the caveat emptor principle even when he insisted on legitimate acquisition.  FCT Minister had flayed FCT Administration officials for conniving with the plaintiff against the government.

The Minister had also alluded to corruption in the system by public servants. His position exposed how corrupt practices undermine the enforcement of land use regulations as illegal developers mostly evade scrutiny by paying off officials, leading to unregulated construction.

Recent demolitions in Lagos State to pave the way for the Lagos-Calabar Highway witnessed about 100 property owners in affected communities demanding compensation.

Another exercise carried out in the state in 2023 over alleged contravention of the state’s master plan equally elicited public outcries as some residents accused the government of ethnic profiling for failing to support the governor’s re-election.

While some victims were compensated despite being below expectation, others were denied due to the breach of the caveat emptor principle. While most Nigerians see the demolition exercise as anti-people, others said it remains a standard urban and regional planning necessity to ensure sanity and the observance of the masterplan of any city. As such, property buyers are also expected to abide by the caveat emptor principle.