Gombe State governor Inuwa Yahaya has barred local government chairmen from issuing land titles in areas designated by the state government as urban areas within the local government councils.
The executive chairman of the Gombe State Urban Planning and Development Authority (GOSUPDA), Samanja Bappayo Maudo, announced this order yesterday during a press conference.
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He said the decision follows a new executive order promulgated in the state, which aims to expand the state’s urban zone.
According to him, the order designates areas within 20 kilometres of the Gombe local government headquarters and 15 kilometres of Kwami and Yamaltu-Deba local governments as urban areas.
Samanja added that, as a result, only the state government has the authority to allocate or use land within these designated areas, revealing that the local government chairmen and district heads are no longer permitted to issue rights of occupancy, except with explicit approval from the state government.
“In the exercise of the powers conferred upon his excellency by section 3 of the Land Use Act of 1978 and all other powers enabling him on that behalf, his excellency Alhaji Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, governor of Gombe State, hereby makes the following orders
“One, all the land within a 20-kilometre radius of the Gombe local government council area is hereby designated as an urban area. Two, all local government council headquarters in this state and all the land within 15 kilometres of the local government headquarters specified are also designated as urban areas.
“So, from the commencement of this order, it shall not be lawful for any local government council to grant any right of occupancy to any person over any undeveloped land specified in sections two and three of this order.
“No local government chairman or anybody is allowed to allocate or to take over or to say this particular land belongs to this particular local government.”, he warned.
Further clarifying, the director general of Gombe State Geographic Information System (GOGIS), Kabiru Usman Hassan, said the policy is meant to expand the state’s urban areas and extend development projects to them.
He lamented that due to indiscriminate land allocation, when the government wants to execute projects, it pays compensation to lands and properties, but that this designation will enable the government to execute projects without hitches.