…says LGs need to control resources

….demands citizens’ participation on budget preparation

By Gabriel Ewepu

ABUJA – FOLLOWING the ongoing review of the 1999 Constitution, a Civil Society Organization, CSO, Environmental Defenders Network, EDEN, yesterday, urged the National Assembly to strip State Governors’ powers on the Land Use Act.

EDEN made the call  on the heels of the proposed alteration to the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999.

In a memorandum to the House of Representatives Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution the group said that under the Land Use Act as currently enforced there is overreach on the part of the governors hence Sections 21, 26 and 28 of the Act should be expunged.

The group hinged its position on feedback from professionals, private property developers and the organised private sector that have always fingered the section as the greatest disincentive to real estate development and the growth of the real estate sector of the nation’s economy.

It also said one of the most contentious sections of the Act is the Governor’s consent and the issuance of the Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) which is required as collateral for obtaining loans from financial institutions. It recommended instead that Nigerians should be allowed to use their land resources for economic empowerment without the interference of any Governor or Chairman.

The memorandum also frowns at Sections 47 and 30 of the Act which denies courts the jurisdiction to hear and determine the amount or adequacy of compensation by making the Land Use and Allocation Committee the only arbiter on appeal. It recommended that the two sections should be expunged.

On the enforcement of environmental protection the group wants to see the Chief Justice of the Federal Republic of Nigeria directing the establishment of environmental courts out of every jurisdiction of the States and Federal High Courts of Nigeria for the sole purpose of quick and efficient determination of environmental protection cases.

Meanwhile, the Executive Director, EDEN, Chima Williams, speaking on the issues said the Land Use Act is not favouring citizens as it is today in the nation’s Constitution, and pointed out that citizens are not free to alienate their rights over their lands in exchange for any other material or developmental issue, except they obtain certificates of occupancy from the governor, and if they do not have it, they cannot use such land resources.

He said: “Now, we talked about the issue of the Land Use Act. We are saying that the Land Use Act, which came as a decree and was integrated into the Constitution by the saving provisions of the Constitution, should be repealed. 

“We don’t have any business having the Land Use Act the way it is because the Land Use Act now has divested citizens of their rights over their lands and vested it on governors of the states, who, according to the Land Use Act, is supposed to hold the lands in trust for citizens and this is where the governors derive their powers to issue certificates of occupancy, create land banks, and the rest of them.And in this, they deprive citizens of the opportunity of using their land resources to sustain livelihoods. 

“For instance, citizens are not free to alienate their rights over their lands in exchange for any other material or developmental issue, except they obtain certificates of occupancy from the governor, and if they do not have it, they cannot use such land resources for certain categories of transactions, including securing bank loans, for instance, if they want to use it as collateral.So we are saying that if the Land Use Act cannot be totally expunged from our Constitution and from our laws, let the provisions of the Land Use Act be repealed to divest governors of their rights to issue certificates of occupancy. 

“Let land rights revert back to communities and individuals who own them to use them as they wish for their own purposes. What about the issue of development of land? Yes, that’s what we are saying, that if you cannot repeal totally the Land Use Act, expunge it totally, review it.Now, our people, Nigerian citizens, under their customary rules, know how to utilize their resources without problems. 

“Now, somebody can go and acquire another person’s property, land property, and maybe because of your position, you apply for certificate of occupancy, and then it will be considered that you can use it, even though we know that Certificate of Occupancy does not confer title to land on anybody. So why have it when it does not confer title? Because the most important legal right is title.”

Meanwhile, according the EDEN boss, in the memorandum submitted to the House of Representatives Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, they asked the Committee to consider removal of section 20 under Chapter 2 of the 1999 Constitution be moved, and called for establishment of special environmental courts out of all existing courts in Nigeria, so that environment cases will be given due attention and speedy dispensation.

“For us, we classified our presentation on that subject. Of course, as an environmental organization and as one of the globally acclaimed environmental defenders, our first point of call will be on the environment.

“We are saying that the Nigerian constitution, 1999, as amended, provides for environment under chapter 2 of the constitution, precisely section 20, which says that the Nigerian environment is to be protected. But, we all know that chapter 2 is an unenforceable chapter of the constitution, mere statement of intention, state policy, which the state intends, if possible, to do. So, there is no enforcement power behind actions contained under chapter 2. So, we are saying that environment is so pivotal to the growth, development, and sustainability of any society that it cannot be left under an unenforceable provision of the constitution.

“So, we are saying that section 20 should be moved. If the entire Chapter 2 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, cannot be moved to Chapter 4, to be a component of Chapter 4, which deals with fundamental human rights, that section 20 should be moved into Chapter 2 and then Chapter 4 and the sections under that chapter renumbered to accommodate that and we are also saying that if you have to enforce environmental protection and environmental law, as environment is a life and death issue, that the Chief Justice of the Federation should direct the establishment of special environmental courts out of all existing courts in Nigeria, so that environment cases will be given due attention and speedy dispensation because what we have now is a situation where when people start environmental litigation, before it is concluded, some of the litigants have already died. 

“So, we are calling on that and we are also saying that issue of environment should be also looked at from the perspective of those activities that pollute and create dislocation in the environment cycle. 

“For instance, in Nigeria, the greatest destroyers of the Nigerian environment are the extractive sector actors, and we are saying that, for instance, issue of petroleum and related matters should be moved from the exclusive legislative list and put in the concurrent legislative list so that both the state and the federal governments can legislate on it, and both states and federal high courts can have jurisdiction to entertain matters that pertain to extractive activities, destruction of the environment”, he said.

He also said the constitutional review should include citizens’ participation on budget preparation process in terms of bottom-top approach.

“Now, the next item that we thought about is issue of budget and budget cycle and citizens’ participation in the budget process.From what we have, citizens do not have any active role to play in the budget cycle. So, it is only during public hearings on appropriation bills that citizens are called upon. And you know that at that point in time, everything has already been formulated.

“The technocrats, the bureaucrats, the politicians in their cozy offices have already allocated resources to whatever they think is necessary for them. Some do not consult their constituents before they make suggestions into the budget composition. 

“So, we are saying that, rather than the top-bottom budget approach, we should do bottom-top so that our budget issues are harnessed from the interest articulated by citizens in town hall meetings at community level, grown to the states and from states to the federal. So that the issue of duplication of projects in the budget cycle, where a state is presenting the same item and the federal budget is presenting the same item, local government budget is presenting the same item will be eliminated. So, the ones that are for local government should be left for them, the ones for the state should be left for them, and the ones for the federal”, he added.

However, he (Williams) stressed that there is no need for more states because they are not going to be viable, rather the states should be allowed to practice true federalism and pay some sort of tax to the federal government, and that would enhance heath developmental competition instead of depending on the federal government for monthly allocations, and he added that a state should be created for the South-East geopolitical zone for equity sake as other zones have six States.

He also said they are pressing for devolution of power in the constitution and not just autonomy granted to Local Government Areas but also including resource control, management and utilization

“So by our own constructs of separation of power, devolution of power, we are saying grant local governments the right to manage the resources that are found in their locality, and our justification for this is that it will reduce the contestations, the criminalities that is happening.

“If local governments in the devolution of power process are granted the autonomy to manage resources located in their locality, we would have started reducing conflicts in the country. Also, we have asked that at this constitution review process, that legislators should look at either section 49 or thereabouts of the 1999 constitution as amended, which has granted the right over all mineral resources in the country on the federal government of Nigeria, we are saying that that is an abnormality”, he added.