Asset valuation key to economic development, wealth creation, says NIESV

Estate surveyors and valuers have urged stakeholders to prioritise asset valuation and increase advocacy on the patronage of professionals in the public and private sectors.

They lamented the low patronage of asset valuers in Nigeria and Africa, despite the reality that appraisal of assets on regular basis goes a long way in getting a return on investment.

Speaking in Port Harcourt on the 2022 Valuation Day entitled, “Unlocking Wealth through Valuation,” the President, Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV), Sir Emmanuel Wike, explained that valuation is not just one of the core competencies of NIESV but central to real estate development and national economic wealth.

“Once you get valuation wrong, so many other things will automatically go wrong and that should be a major concern to the practitioners and end-users, especially, against the attempt by non-estate surveyors and valuers to venture into the practice of valuation”.

He frowned at emerging cases, where engineers veer into valuation, which is the core competence of estate surveyors and valuers, stating that the Estate Surveyors and Valuers Registration Board of Nigeria (ESVARBON) Decree No. 24 of 1975, now (CAP E13 LFN 2004), recognises the practice of valuation as the sole prerogative of estate surveyors and valuers.

Reinforcing the significance of valuation day during a rally organised by the Lagos branch of the institution, NIESV Second Vice President, Mr. Victor Alonge, said there was a need to instil the consciousness of valuation in those who make decisions at the political and private levels.

“There is hardly any transaction you do with the bank in terms of taking facility that they won’t ask for security and 90 per cent of collateral security required are real estate. A bank will not take your real estate as collateral without knowing its value. Every business entity reports financial activities on yearly basis, including fixed and movable assets through valuation. Public procurement in Federal and state government activities has made it compulsory now to do valuation in disposing of government assets.”

The Vice-Chairman, Lagos State branch, Mr. Gbenga Ismail, observed that society is hardly aware of the duties of a valuer and the importance of valuation in national life.

“ Government at different times needs to take stock of assets it owns, what has been put into the assets and what has happened to the assets over time. One of the biggest assets people own is either their house or business premises. Do you know how much you pay for it and how much it is worth over time? A valuer lets you know the risk the asset is facing,” Ismail said.

Another member, Olufemi Adedamola Oyedele, said valuation day is a unique platform for accessing the latest trends and technologies in valuation, understanding new valuation standards and methodologies and approaches to valuation to meet market expectations.

Oyedele said: ” The purpose of a valuation exercise is to track the effectiveness of your strategic decision-making process and provide the ability to track performance in terms of the estimated change in the value of an asset, not just in revenue. Valuation helps determine the true worth or price of an asset; it is used in the determination of the worth of a company’s shares, essential in the merger and acquisition of companies. It is a means of unlocking wealth.”

On his part, Tope Yinka-Ojo observed that yearly people go to the hospital for medical tests to determine the status of their body yet people don’t check their assets.

He said: “The real estate assets constitute about a larger percentage of the assets people have and one of the barometers to measure the efficiency and best use of real estate asset is to conduct the valuation.”

Contributing, a past chairman of the Lagos state branch, Mr Samuel Ukpong, said the value of most abandoned projects in the country has been locked, hence, the need to unlock them through proper valuation exercise.
MEANWHILE, the NIESV Oyo State chapter has urged Nigerians to engage the services of professional valuers and estate surveyors in order to get optimum returns and value from their properties.

The Chairman, Solomon Faloye, made the call while speaking with journalists during a roadshow marking the international valuation day in Ibadan.

Faloye said the body gives professional advice to Nigerians for them to have more returns on their investment.

While pointing out that the roadshow was to create awareness of the roles of estate valuers in nation-building and economic development, the NIESV chairman said valuers are custodians of people’s wealth.

He said: “We want to let the whole world know that we as valuers, we stand for people to gain a lot, whereby we let them know the potential of their investment in real estate.”