In the drive to improve the Internal Generation Revenue of Lagos State to N25B by 2017, Lagos State government has signed into the law, Lagos State Properties Protection Law and the Lagos State Neighbourhood Safety Corps Law.
Explaining the importance of the two laws means last weekend, the Executive Governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode said that two bills are central to administration’s focus of safe guarding the lives of all residents, attracting and growing investments and improving the ease of doing business in Lagos.
Ambode said that one of the issues that discourages investors and hinders the ease of doing business in Lagos is the issue of land grabbing.
“A lot of our would-be property owners encounter untold harassment from exploitative land grabbers. This Law marks the end of the road for such land grabbers.
“The Lagos State Properties Protection Law will give legal backing to the operations of our law enforcement officers. The main objective of this Law, is to ensure that our investors, businessmen and the general populace carry on their legitimate land/property transactions without any hindrance or intimidation henceforth”, he explained.
He mentioned that the Properties Law will eliminate the activities of persons or corporate entities who use force and intimidation to dispossess or prevent any person or entity from acquiring legitimate interest and possession of property.
He said that Special Task Force on land grabbers will work with all security agencies to ensure enforcement of State government and private property rights in the state, and ensure proper coordination of the efforts of the various agencies of government charged with enforcing the state government’s rights over land in Lagos.
Ambode commended the leadership of the state assembly and judiciary for their determination to move Lagos forward.
“We recognise their partnership with the executive arm which has in no small measure supported the development of good governance”
“Their intellectualism in sponsoring the bills and the pro-activeness of the members for considering the passage of these laws as priority is admirable”, he said.