Nigeria: Opening of new GRAs, digitisation of land allocation, property search grew Oyo's revenue — Akin-Funmilayo
Akin-Funmilayo, who stated this on Thursday while addressing pressmen at the afternoon session of the Omituntun 2.0 Inter-Ministerial Briefing, said about 15 GRAs were created through the public-private partnership model, while the ministry also introduced several initiatives, including electronic allocation letters, deployment of online allocation and plot selection on the Ministry of Lands' website www.lands.oyostate.gov.ng, as well as an amnesty programme for building permits and deployment of an online building permit platform.
All these initiatives, as well as the issuance of 17,046 digital title documents since the inception of the Governor Makinde administration, deployment of the Oyo State Property Reference System (OYPRS) for easy identification of properties and payment of land-based taxes, as well as the expansion of the tax net, have culminated in the ministry achieving improved revenues on a year-on-year basis.
According to Akin-Funmilayo, the ministry recorded increased revenue generation in the last two years of Omituntun 2.0, contributing the sum of N4.8 billion to the state's coffers in 2023, while it achieved N6.1 billion in 2024, with the 2025 revenue generation as of May 15 standing at N3.2 billion.
The Commissioner said the GRAs opened by the state government include the Engr. Lere Adigun GRA, which has been completed, while the Senator Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja GRA, Senator Isiaka Abiola Ajimobi GRA, Otunba Christopher Adebayo Alao Akala GRA, Chief Lateef Oyelade GRA, Signature Estate, Woodland Estate, Chief Michael Adeniyi Koleosho GRA, Baywood Gardens, Hon. Akinremi Jagaban GRA, Kolapo Ishola Land Phase II Extension, Akobo, Mokola Hill Top GRA, Tonabim Estate, Oyo GRA and Ogbomoso GRA are all under construction.
He said, 'As of today, we have some GRAs that are not yet in the market. The one at Alalubosa is not in the market yet, we are going to sell very soon. The one at Aerodrome is not yet in the market; we are going to sell very soon. The one at Agodi Gardens is also not in the market yet.'
He added, 'Cumulatively, from January to May 2024, we achieved N2.7 billion, while cumulatively from January to May 2025, we achieved N3.2 billion, which is an increase of about N500 million. For us to record that level of improvement we had to appraise ourselves; we did serious analysis and where corrective measures needed to be taken, we did just that.
'In the area of title documents issued, altogether, we had about 17,000 plus from 2019 to date. Out of that number, almost 8,000 were issued within the past two years, which means that about 9,000 were issued in the first term. Out of the number for the last two years, 4,570 were issued in 2024, which was the highest since 2019. In May 2025 alone, we issued 1,008. So, I can tell you that by December this year, we should be able to achieve about 5,000 issuance of these titled documents.'
He added that the ministry has also introduced innovations such as the digitisation of property cards and files in the Deeds Registry to protect and preserve historical data, as well as provision of Real Time Kinematic Digital Surveying Equipment for the use of surveyors to enhance surveying in the state.
Other achievements, he noted, include the new Land Use Charge Act, which has been signed and passed into law, the recruitment of 77 additional staff members into the ministry to improve efficiency, and the payment of compensation to the tune of N935,846,000 to property owners affected by the various infrastructure development projects of the state government, including the East Wing of the Senator Rashidi Ladoja Circular Road (N260,000,000.00); Ajia Junction Improvement Interchange (N139,000,000.00); Right of Way/Weigh Bridge of Ogbomoso/Iseyin Road (N23,846,000.00); and the Air Force Base, Ajia (N513,000,000.00).
Fielding questions from newsmen, Akin-Funmilayo said though the need to put up necessary infrastructure in the various GRAs being opened up by the government pushed up the cost of land in those places, he assured that the Makinde administration would achieve affordable GRAs for the middle and low-income classes before the expiration of the tenure.
The Commissioner added that the ministry was strengthening its processes to ensure that those putting up buildings in the state comply with the regulations with a view to stemming the tide of building collapse in the state.
'We will protect lives and properties in the state by ensuring that house owners and contractors comply with the building regulations in the state. We don't want to lose any life to building collapse. We also don't want our people to lose their properties. So, as a government, we will do what is required of us to stamp out building collapse in the state,' he added.
The Commissioner called on those putting up buildings to always get in touch with the ministry for approval and guidance before embarking on construction to guard against ugly occurrences.
On the ministry's projections for the future, the Land Commissioner said it would be focusing on house numbering in the coming months.
He said: 'House numbering is one of the promises we made and the digitalisation and archiving of all documents in the ministry. And, maybe the last is—let me also say independence—partial independence for the Physical Planning Department, which is to let it become a unit or a division on its own. We have already started the administrative work on it and maybe before the year runs out, we would have gone far on this vision.'
The Commissioner for Lands, Housing and Urban Development was accompanied by the top echelon of the Ministry.
Copyright © 2022 Nigerian Tribune Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).
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