The Environmental Defenders Network (EDEN) has urged the National Assembly to expunge sections of the Land Use Act that grants governors limitless powers to revoke and expropriate lands at will, insisting that practical examples have shown them to be inhibitors of development.
EDEN made this demand and a host of others at the zonal public hearing on the proposed alteration to the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 that held in Lagos on Saturday, July 19, 2025. Other demands that EDEN made included a call for enforcement of environment protection to serve as pivotal support for life and livelihoods, citizens’ participation in the budget and the need for independent electoral bodies, among others.
In a memorandum to the House of Representatives Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, the group said that under the Land Use Act as currently enforced there is overreach on the part of the governors hence Sections 21, 26 and 28 of the Act should be expunged.
The group hinged its position on feedback from professionals, private property developers and the organised private sector that have always fingered the section as the greatest disincentive to real estate development and the growth of the real estate sector of the nation’s economy.
It also said one of the most contentious sections of the Act is the Governor’s consent and the issuance of the Certificate of Occupancy (C-of-O) which is required as collateral for obtaining loans from financial institutions. It recommended instead that Nigerians should be allowed to use their land resources for economic empowerment without the interference of any Governor or Chairman.
The memorandum also frowns at Sections 47 and 30 of the Act which denies courts the jurisdiction to hear and determine the amount or adequacy of compensation by making the Land Use and Allocation Committee the only arbiter on appeal. It recommended that the two sections should be expunged.
On the enforcement of environmental protection, the group wants to see the Chief Justice of the Federal Republic of Nigeria directing the establishment of environmental courts out of every jurisdiction of the States and Federal High Courts of Nigeria for the sole purpose of quick and efficient determination of environmental protection cases.
It equally wants every organ and institution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to recognise and guarantee the Rights of Nature to maintain her vital cycles and provide services for all species as a means of halting reckless exploitation and damaging of ecosystems.
To ensure that the country’s electoral processes does not only produce credible individuals but one that is acceptable to the people it called for review of the electoral laws to discourage cross carpeting, determination of election petitions before swearing in or inauguration, independent electoral bodies and a proper electoral timetable.
The House of Representatives Committee on Constitution Review opened the discussions and schedule guide for the zonal public hearings across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones on Wednesday July 2, 2025.