Lagos Assembly to review survey law – TheNigerialawyer

..Wants Surveyor-General to overhaul office

The Lagos State House of Assembly will soon begin a review of
the state’s survey law with a view to curbing the activities of
some surveyors.

This resolution followed a motion moved by the majority leader,
Sanai Agunbiade, during plenary. He stated that it is important to
curb the nefarious activities of surveyors in the state.

“The state has the smallest (swath of) land in the country, yet
the ownership and control of land usually leads to crisis. The
level of impunity is becoming so high based on the activities of
some surveyors in the state.

“We have laws that regulate the activities of surveyors in the
state. Section 16 (1) of the state’s survey law in the state gives
the House powers to control the activities of surveyors in the
state.

“This House has dealt with crisis on issues concerning land and
these arose from improper information in the survey plan. We have
seen cases where surveyors collected money from people and said the
land was not under acquisition whereas it was under
acquisition.

“They give wrong information to land owners and cause disputes
among people. Many people who own land lose the land due to
misinformation in the area of survey. That was why we searched for
the law so that this could be corrected,” Agunbiade said.

In supporting the motion, Rasheed Makinde (Ifako-Ijaiye 2) said
the Surveyor-General’s office does not do digital survey and that
some of the instruments used for survey in the state are
obsolete.

“Incompetence of the technicians is another issue. The surveyors
use intuitions to determine the land that is free so we need to
overhaul the office of the surveyor-general.

In his contribution, the deputy majority leader, Olumuyiwa Jimoh
(Apapa 2), stated that the Surveyor Registration Council should be
proactive in disciplining their erring members.

He added that surveyors should stop the habit of sitting in the
office and sending draftsmen to the field.

Also speaking, Rotimi Olowo (Shomolu 1) said that there was a
law passed by the House to deal with erring surveyors. He advised
the state to look into the issue of equipment for surveyors.

He added that the state had been having problems with allocation
of land because there was no good record-keeping in the office of
the Surveyor-General.

The Speaker of the House, Mudashiru Obasa, then set up a
committee headed by Abiodun Tobun to review the survey law of the
state and submit its report.

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