60% of C of O in Lagos are fake – Lawmaker

Ikeja -The Chairman, Committee on Lands and Housing, Lagos State House of Assembly, Mr Bayo Osinowo, on Thursday said that more than 60 per cent of the Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) in the state were fake.

Osinowo said this during a plenary session of the assembly.

He said that the state’s Properties Protection Bill, 2013, which had scaled through the second reading, would correct the anomaly, if passed into law.

The chairman said that the proposed law would also check other wrongdoings associated with landed property ownership and sale in the state.

“In Lagos State, land is our major resource; therefore, nothing will be too much to protect it,“ he said.

Mr Sanai Agunbiade, Chairman of the House Committee on Human Rights and Public Petitions, said that the bill would take care of agents who took landed property forcefully.

“The bill would prevent `Omo-onile` (indigenes) from exploiting potential buyers before or during construction work, “ he said.

According to Agunbiade, the proposed law would prevent anyone who, without lawful authority, uses violence to secure entry into any landed property.

Mr Mudasiru Obasa (ACN-Agege I) suggested establishment of a special court to try persons who   would contravene the provisions of the proposed law.

He noted that the bill recommended three years imprisonment or N300, 000 fine for offenders.

The private member bill has been committed to the House Committee on Lands and Housing as well as the Committee on Human Rights and Public Petitions.

The committees are expected to submit a report on the bill within a month. (NAN)


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