The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of CFL Group, Mr. Lai Omotola, has issued a seven-day ultimatum to the Lagos State Registrar of Lands to deregister a Governor’s Consent linked to a property on Adeola Odeku Street, Victoria Island, threatening to institute a N5 billion lawsuit if the document is not withdrawn.

Omotola alleged that the title documents had discrepancies, accusing individuals allegedly behind the transaction of using the document to lay claim to the property and continue construction despite objections to their ownership claims.

In a public alert titled “Land Title Laundry in Lagos State,” he raised concerns about an alleged scheme involving the cloning of land titles, forgery of historical land records and the insertion of questionable documents into the state’s land registry system.

According to the complainant, the alleged scheme involves identifying abandoned properties in high-value locations such as Ikoyi and Victoria Island, attributing ownership to deceased individuals, and producing purportedly backdated land certificates before allegedly introducing the documents into official records.

He claimed that, once the documents are reflected in the government’s system, those behind the scheme proceed to obtain a Governor’s Consent, which they subsequently rely on to assert ownership of the property. Omotola said investigations by his firm into the competing ownership claims revealed discrepancies in the documents allegedly presented by the rival claimant.

The Public Affairs Officer of the Lagos Land Bureau, Harry Dayo Adeola, was contacted and the issues raised by Omotola were put across to him, he promised to get back but has not as at press time.