GRAs: Now that Ogun has extended deadline for verification of title documents

BY SOLA ADEBAYO

LAST week, in demonstration of good faith, the Dapo Aboiodun-led government in Ogun State extended by two weeks, the deadline for property owners and occupiers affected by the ongoing physical development audit exercise to present their title documents. The Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Olatunji Odunlami, announced this in a statement, explaining that the move was to allow more time for compliance. As he noted, the government decided to grant the extension “to give property owners and developers more time to either present their planning permits or approach the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development and its agencies to regularise their unapproved developments.”

Revealing that the decision was made after considering appeals from affected persons, the commissioner said that the extension demonstrated the goodwill of the state government in response to representations made by a cross-section of the affected property owners both in Sagamu and Ijebu-Ode, and also reflects the government’s commitment to the rule of law and transparency, noting that the gesture “does not derogate whatsoever from its constitutional and statutory actions already carried out on the matter.”

That declaration can indeed not be faulted, and it puts a lie to the media hysteria orchestrated by the senator representing Ogun East in the National Assembly, Gbenga Daniel. When, in exercise of its powers and in pursuit of its urban renewal initiative which was kick-started with the Ibara GRA in Abeokuta before being extended to Sagamu and Ijebu-Ode GRAs, the Abiodun government began the purely statutory process of auditing of existing developments within the areas in order to determine the permit status of all types of developments, including houses, schools, hospitals and other commercial buildings and provide information for any government intervention, the senator and his spin doctors littered the public space with allegations of political witch-hunt, falsely claiming that the Ogun State Government was trying to demolish his properties, which fall within Sagamu GRA, for political gain. Sadly, even when the government pointed out that the exercise is a routine development covering property owners within the GRAs, they remained recalcitrant, lying with relish.

Apparently, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, whose building happens to be within the Sagamu GRA and among those that were served notices as required under the Town Planning Law and Regulation of Ogun State, placed himself above the laws of the land in the mistaken belief that his closeness to Governor Abiodun ought to shield him from any infraction. Allegations are rife that his Asoludero Court was built on land allocated to judges, and without obtaining the necessary papers, and that his Conference Hotel was built on a driving school land owned by the Ogun State government, while his defunct newspaper was also built on government land. Could that be why, rather than complying with the directive to submit his papers for verification, he opted to engage in media rabble rousing? Surely, using executive power to grab government land is bad enough, but to then refuse to even obtain the necessary approvals before building on it is simply beyond belief. Daniel, who would have Nigerians believe that he did no wrong and has nothing to hide, now has a two-week window with which to prove his trumpeted innocence. As Commissioner
Odunlami stressed and as Nigerians can now see clearly, the audit exercise is not targeted at anyone.

As a matter of fact, a similar land auditing exercise was carried out under Senator Daniel’s administration. Was he persecuting people then by auditing their papers?

It is instructive that rather than complying with lawful order, Senator Daniel rushed to court to obtain an interim order protecting his properties from alleged demolition. What is he trying to hide?What is the problem in government requesting property owners in its own GRA to bring their papers for audit? GRAs are exclusively owned by the government and structures within them are expected to have a level of uniformity as laid down by the government. They are not expected to deviate from the approved plan. It is a fact that every government periodically carries out audits in this regard. From Lagos to Edo, the story is the same. Yet instead of going to the concerned ministry and submitting the required papers, the former two-term governor of Ogun State sought refuge in the media. Before this, the audit exercise had been concluded in Abeokuta without any issues. And in Sagamu, sadly, only one person, namely the distinguished senator, raised a ruckus. In this country, you can allege persecution as much as you want, but at a point reasonable people will begin to ask why it has to be you involved in controversy all the time when you are evidently not the only property owner in Ogun State. They will begin to ask why you cannot submit yourself to lawful orders of government. Anyway, the distinguished senator has all of two weeks to now submit his documents for verification like anyone else, and move on once the fact has been established that his buildings are in line with the approved plan. If there are infractions, the state government has already indicated a willingness to regularise even unapproved developments. So why should there be any problem?

Under no circumstances should Nigeria as a country condone the use of people ‘s patrimony and destiny by lawless people in government. Those who take over government land without paying a dime to government coffers should not get away with it simply because they have hacked and hired writers at their beck and call. If Senator Daniel has the required papers, let him bring them to the table. Simple.

Adebayo is of Society for Postive Change, Abuja.