Property law experts has urged the Lagos State Government to reduce the cost of registering land and other property so that more people can easily obtain their titles.

According to them, the high fees discourage people from registering their property, with the government losing more money that it makes.

They made the call at a workshop on the Lagos State Lands Registration Law 2015, organised by the Department of Private and Property Law, Faculty of Law, University of Lagos (UNILAG).

A former Federal Commissioner of Works, Alhaji Femi Okunnu (SAN); former Lagos Commissioner for the Environment Dr Muiz Banire (SAN) and Dr Abiola Sanni of the Department of Commercial and Industrial Law, UNILAG said if possible, title registration should be free.

Okunnu said fees charged at the Land Registry should be minimal so that people can afford to register their property.

Banire said if the cost is reduced, more people will register their titles and the government will earn more money than it presently does.

“The government seems myopic. If you lower the amount chargeable, the turnover will even be higher than what they’re getting now,” he said.

Sanni believes registration should be very low, or free if possible, because land registration ideally should not be a primary means of generating revenue.

He said: “Ideally the purpose of registration is not mainly to generate revenue but for management/regulatory purposes, while the essence of taxation is revenue generation.”

A former Lagos Attorney-General, Mr Olasupo Shasore (SAN) urged the state to make the process of obtaining land and property documentations transparent and less cumbersome.

He also urged the government to ensure increased transparency in its land management process, so as to increase confidence in the system and build its credibility.  Shasore called for the abolition of what he called an anomaly of a Federal Lands Registry in Lagos, saying it is unconstitutional.

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