Surveyor General denies sale of FG land in Lagos

The Surveyor General of the Federation, Abuduganiyu Adebomehin has refuted media reports that his office sold plots of land estimated at N16 billion in Lagos State.

Adebomehin, who addressed the journalists in Abuja on the issue raised by an individual, explained that the same falsehood was peddled in 2022 and resurfaced this year to tarnish his image and that of the office.

He also stated that in 2023, an individual took the matter to court and in March this year, the game plan started with the involvement of civil societies, adding that an investigation was conducted and the office was exonerated. “We have no right or authority to offer government property for sale. We have Presidential Committee on it,” he said.

According to him, there is a Land Use Allocation Committee responsible for such sale, and though their office controls the largest land matters in the country. We have encroachment issues in the Federal Government’s land in Kwara, Imo and Kano States.

He further maintained that the investigation is ongoing and the OSGoF has explained that they do not sell any government-landed property because it does not fall within the agency’s schedule.

Adebomehin disclosed that OSGOF has advanced in science and technology by opening the coast for training and retraining of staff on geospatial data, information and management.

He, therefore, regretted that OSGOF was not involved in the great Green Wall programme, stressing that many years ago, they offered advice concerning Chad Basin but it was not taken seriously, presently many families have lost livelihood as a result of this.