By Jude Njoku

Alarmed by the high rate of corruption in the procurement of housing projects in Nigeria and the false or unverifiable assets declarations made by political office holders, the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers, NIESV, has initiated moves to partner with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and the Code of Conduct Bureau, CCB, to stem the prevalence of corrupt practices in real estate transactions.

Already, the leadership of the Institution has met with top shots of anti-graft agency and the Code of Conduct Bureau, with a view to forging a symbiotic relationship that will assist both organisations in their fight against corruption in the country.

Disclosing this during an interactive session with newsmen in Lagos, NIESV President, Mr Emeka Eleh gave further reasons why the land professionals deemed it fit to collaborate with the two bodies. He lamented that most of the assets declarations done in Nigeria were anticipatory of what would be amassed while in office.

Said he: “A couple of weeks ago, we were at the Code of Conduct Bureau;  we were equally at the Office of the Secretary to the Federal Government, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim. One of the issues that we raised had to do with assets declaration. By virtue of the laws of this country, every public officer is supposed to declare his assets upon assumption of office and upon leaving office.

“Our position is that by the laws of this country, it is only estate surveyors and valuers who are registered by ESVARBON, our regulatory body, that are authorised by law to determine the value of real estate assets all over the country. With regards to assets declaration that have to do with real estate assets, unless those assets are valued and their values confirmed by our members, declarations outside this, would not be in conformity with our laws”.

On the partnership with EFCC, Mr Eleh explained that it is meant to create a platform through which suspicious real estate transactions can be reported and probed.

The NIESV President called for government’s intervention in the housing sector because of the critical need to provide decent and affordable shelter for millions of homeless Nigerians.

He also decried the fact that most land in the country are dead assets because they don’t have valid title documents. Eleh noted that if the government could intervene in the aviation and agricultural sectors, nothing stops it from intervening in the housing sector.

”Our hope and desire is that everything being done now will culminate in a National Land Commission. The National Land Commission should be headed by a qualified professional in land resource management, ideally an estate surveyor and valuer and should be a person of cabinet rank.

“This is because we believe that if we have ministers managing all sectors, land resources should be managed in such a way that the person managing it, will report directly to the President. We believe it is appropriate, the same way you have the Surveyor-General of the country, to have a Valuer-General who will also superintend the value system that we have in the country to ensure that at all times, value allocations are in consonance with market realities,”he said.

He called on the Federal Government to strengthen the Federal Housing Authority, FHA, to enable the agency play a leading role in the provision of social housing in the country.

Noting that a major component of housing cost goes to the provision of infrastructure, Me Eleh enjoined both the state and Federal governments to develop the needed infrastructure as part of their social housing policies. He also called for the adoption of a culture of maintaining existing infrastructure instead of allowing them to deteriorate.