Governor Ibikunle Amosun has reiterated the commitment of his administration to engender infrastructural development of Ogun State. Amosun who made the statement at the launch of the Ogun State Homeowners’ initiative said the initiative was borne out of a genuine desire to develop the state and not revenue drive.

The Governor revealed that a Geographical Satellite imaging of the state revealed that a vast majority of residential buildings in the state have no valid papers. He states that the data and results are significant with far reaching consequences for the development of the state. Amosun lamented that the culture of building without approval has been rampant with sheer volume of development not being monitored.

He asserted further that the consequences of building without approval are extremely serious both for property owners and government.
The Governor who underscored the commitment of his administration to embarking on urban renewal said the uncontrolled buildings hinder the provisions of social amenities to the various communities.  This is equally linked to the undervaluing of the Ogun State properly market.

Amosun said in a bid to address the situation, “the homeowner s’ charter becomes a more potent tool to move forward in our mission to rebuild the state”.  The Governor said the programme is conceived to enable people regularize their property status with huge discounts while those who build illegally should also obtain relevant documents.

Amosun emphasized further that the state needs enumerical data to support developmental plans which informed the conception of the home charter initiative. While calling on the people to embrace the programme which is a once in a lifetime opportunity, Amosun said the charter provides a vantage platform for medium and long term planning for overall development.

In his welcome address, the Director General Lands, Mr. Olusegun Oshinowo said the homeowner s’ charter initiative is designed to ensure security of tenure for homeowners at a friendly cost. Oshinowo said it has become worrisome that not up to 20% of properties in the state have relevant documents.  He states that the Geographical Information System (GIS) study conducted revealed that less than 20% of 35,000 houses in a particular area have proper documentation.

The situation according to him was corroborated by a World Bank study on the state which described the situation as a disincentive to housing delivery in the state.
He appealed to property owners in the state to commence regularisation of their property documents by visiting the homeowners’ charter centres created across the state.