BREAKING: Gombe Governor Seizes LG Lands, Strips Council Bosses of Powers to Issue Titles
By Juliet Vincent
In a shocking move, Gombe State Governor, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, has issued an Executive Order confiscating large swaths of land from local governments.
This is coming despite the recent financial autonomy granted to local governments in the country to operate.
According to the Executive chairman of Gombe State Urban Planning and Development Authority (GOSUPDA), Samanja Bappayo Maudo who addressed journalists on the matter, the order designates areas within 20 kilometers of Gombe Local Government headquarters and 15 kilometers of Kwami, Akko and Yamaltu-Deba local governments as urban areas.
He revealed that by the Executive Order, local government chairmen have no powers to allocate land or grant rights of occupancy to anybody.
“Under the prevailing circumstances, there is the need to expand the radius of existing urban areas and to create new ones in all the local government areas of the state.
“Now therefore, in the exercise of the powers conferred upon his Excellency by section 3 of land use act 1978 and all other powers enabling him in that behalf, He, His Excellency Alhaji Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, governor of Gombe State hereby makes the following orders
“One, all the land within 20 kilometres radius of Gombe local government council area is hereby designated as urban area. Two, all local government councils headquarters in this state and all the land within 15 kilometres radius of the local government headquarters specified, are hereby designated also 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.
Also commenting, the Director-General of Gombe State Geographic Information System (GOGIS), Kabiru Usman Hassan, said the policy is meant to expand the urban areas of the state and to extend development projects to the areas.
He lamented that due to indiscriminate lands allocation, when government wants to execute projects, it pays compensation to lands and properties but that with this designation, it will enable government execute projects without hitches.
