IN ABUJA: National Assembly urged to amend Land Use Act to reflect current realities

Professor Victor Akujuru of the Department of Estate Management, River State University, on Thursday called for the amendment of Land Use Act to reflect current realities in the compensation method.

Akujuru made the call during a presentation at the 2019 Mandatory Continuing Professional Development (MCPD) Seminar of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV), which held in Abuja.

Speaking on the theme “Redeeming the purpose of compensation from compulsory acquisition in Nigeria”, he said the Land Use Act as currently constituted failed to provide compensation for land in the event of compulsory acquisition.

“The Land Use Act by its provisions specifies the replacement cost method of valuing building. It also specifies that we should use compensation rates to value economic crops and trees but does not provide any compensation for land.

“Now, the compensation you determine from replacement where are you going to build, a building that had been taken over, or does the law assume that once you have acquired a building compulsorily, the person should become a destitute.”