THE inauguration of a Land Use and Allocation Committee (LUAC) by the Office of the Surveyor General of the Federation (OSGOF) has drawn criticism from the Association of Town Planning Consultants of Nigeria (ATOPCON), which described the move as a blatant violation of legal and professional boundaries.

ATOPCON stressed that while modernising land administration with geospatial data is welcome, OSGOF’s assumption of responsibilities such as physical planning, land use zoning, land allocation, and development enforcement is unprofessional, unethical, and constitutes legal overreach.

The composition of the committee, heavily weighted toward land surveyors and excluding estate surveyors and a legal practitioner as mandated by the Land Use Act, further undermines its legitimacy.

ATOPCON President, Hakeem Badejo, noted that urban and regional planning is a residual matter reserved for state governments, with the Land Use Act vesting all land within states in the Governor. The Act explicitly assigns physical development planning to Town Planning Authorities, while the laws establishing the Office of the Surveyor General do not confer such powers.

Badejo argued that land surveyors provide spatial measurements, but the legal and strategic blueprint for land use falls within the remit of town planners. Any attempt by OSGOF to perform these functions invites administrative chaos, judicial challenges, and undermines investor confidence in land-related projects.

Both ATOPCON and concerned professionals called for immediate intervention by regulatory authorities to uphold the law, protect professional boundaries, and prevent potential administrative and legal crises.

“We urge the Attorney General of the Federation to provide immediate legal guidance to the OSGOF by highlighting the Committee’s conflict with the Land Use Act and the Constitution. We call on the Head of Service of the Federation for an administrative review to halt this duplication of roles and the waste of public resources on an unnecessary and unauthorised committee.

“We call on the Surveyors Registration Council of Nigeria (SURCON) to guide the SGOF to adhere strictly to its core mandate and cease infringing on the statutory roles of town planners and the President of TOPREC to take all necessary administrative steps to protect the integrity of the planning profession from this or any further encroachment,” Badejo added.

Supporting this position, Director of the Centre for Environmental Studies and Design Ltd/GTE, Waheed Kadiri, emphasised that only state governors have the power to establish LUACs and determine their composition, which must include estate surveyors and a legal practitioner.

He urged OSGOF to revisit the Land Use Act and clarify the legal basis for the federal committee, warning that deviations from statutory provisions threaten the transparency, fairness, and effectiveness of land allocation.