*** PASS LAGOS STATE PUBLIC COMPLAINTS AND ANTI-CORRUPTION BILL, 2020 INTO LAW Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. (Dr.) Mudashiru Obasa established that the Lagos State Real Estate Regulatory Authority Bill, 2020 stands to alleviate the challenges faced with real estate businesses in the State. He stated that with the creation of a regulatory board, it will execute certain policies in the Bill and ensure supervision of real estate business activities thereby eradicating challenges and providing opportunities to attract foreign investors into the State. “Real estate is a smart business in Lagos, particularly the high blue areas, which is strong enough to attract foreign investors and increase the Internal Generated Revenue, IGR of the State. However, there is need to create a proper regulatory board which can take charge as this is a major requirement for investors to approach the country.” The Speaker made this known at the Plenary on Tuesday, during the second reading of a Bill for a Law to regulate real estate transactions in Lagos State and for other connected purposes. Deliberating on the advantages of the Bill, Hon. Sanai Agunbiade, the Majority Leader expressed that the shortcomings of the Bill are less compared to the advantages and must be encouraged to see the next stage of legislative procedure. He added that the Bill will improve real estate business in Nigeria and further ensure its compliance to the best practices across the globe. “The Bill seeks to repeal the present extant Estate Regulatory Authority Law, as it encompasses an enlargement of coast and concerns which tend to regulate only estate agencies. This Bill further seeks to monitor and regulate transactions within real estate businesses to allay the fears of international investors and unlock some of the grey areas.” “The Bill also tidies up some loose ends observed over the years in terms of real estate businesses particularly the issues of abandoned buildings to clearly stipulate what constitutes the timing difference between uncompleted and abandoned buildings in order not to exploit persons embarking on legitimate constructions on hard earned resources.” He advised. The Chairman, House Committee on Housing, Hon. Bisi Yusuff noted that the prevalent situation of real estate transactions in Lagos State is full of anomalies, as its usage for extortion has been on the increase and there should be a database to verify the genuineness of the transactions to know the true position of the owner of each businesses and properties. He added that the Chairman of the regulatory board experience be reduced to 10 years. Noting that the Bill empowers the Board to establish a Committee of Enquiry for checks and balances, allowing for an appeal to the Court of competent jurisdiction if the verdict of the Committee is not satisfactory. Other Members of the House maintained that professional bodies should be encapsulated among the regulatory board, as well as the welfare of the personnel be given priority in order for them not to be easily compromised. Subsequently, the Speaker directed the Committee on Housing to look into the deliberations at plenary for further legislative process and report in two weeks’. In a related development, the Lagos State House of Assembly passed into Law after the third reading of Lagos State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission Bill, 2020 which seeks to create a public complaints and anti-corruption commission in order to address issues relating to complaint on accountability of public officers. Thereafter, the Acting Clerk of the House, Mr. Olalekan Onafeko was mandated to send a clean copy of the Bill to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for approval.
