REPORT: Fashola inherits over 10,000 untreated Lands and Housing files from Jonathan's govt

Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, minister of Works, Power and Housing.

Estate practitioners in Abuja have continued to lament the manner in which the Federal Ministry of Lands and Housing has been handling land processes filed at the Ministry.
The stakeholders in the industry why it would take over two years to process land papers, lamenting that this is not only dragging back property deals and truncating the expected contribution of the industry to economic growth of Nigeria but has also given the country a bad image in the eye of foreign investors in the industry.

Some of the officers in the Ministry that spoke with TEMPO anonymously said, over 10,000 files have been left untreated or treated half way by the last minister for two years now.

They further revealed that the problem is not about the Departments but the poor and lazy attitude of the office of the Minister which is legally responsible for assenting, endorsing or consenting to the various land processes like the Deed of Assignment filing.

It is saddening that some of the files are now lying on the floor in various departments, especially the Department of Lands which has over 1000 of such filings.

TEMPO also interviewed a Legal Practitioner who handles processes from Abuja and Lagos on the issue with the Ministry who stated that the problem is multifaceted but chief among these is that of the office of the Minister.

He said he has a land process which filed since 2014 when Mrs Akon Eyakenyi was the Minister.
Regretting that, although the process has passed through all internal procedure since January 2015, the Minister left virtually all files unattended to.

“I do not know how mere signing of a process becomes a difficult task. I only heard of people who paid their way through. My client does not subscribe to such practice. Now the file has been returned to the Department of Lands for repackaging so that the consent page can be changed to reflect the new name of the Ministry and the new Minister”.

How has the new minister, Babatunde Fashola been handling the inherited files?

TEMPO sought to enquire from the ministry how Mr. Fashola handling the files matter but the response from the ministry was quite discouraging.

The Minister was reported to have first refused to sign any, claiming that under the Land Use Act, perfection of title and other processes of federal lands within a state ought to be under the office of the Governor of the state and not Federal Ministry of Lands.

However, after three weeks of internal friction between the management and the minister, he  finally agreed to treat such files.

“When and how this will start is what nobody can confirm. This has left people in a state of frustration and unaware private clients are now shifting the blame to the practitioners. The attention of the Federal Government must be drawn to this particular ministry where many activities go on unnoticed year in, year out," an Estate practitioner who spoke with TEMPO noted.