The Oyo State Government has expressed its readiness to revoke undeveloped lands within its designated Government Reserved Areas (GRAs).

Besides, the state has also said it would release the modalities for the sale of 38 housing units at the Calton Gate Estate, Akobo area of Ibadan.

The State’s Commissioner for Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Mr. Abdur-Raheem Abiodun, who made the disclosure at the end of the State’s Executive Council meeting, said that the state government would revoke any land left unattended to by unserious developers.

A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, quoted the Commissioner as saying that the state was ready to key into Land Swap arrangement to ensure development of affordable accommodation for the people of the state.

According to the Commissioner, the state government was unhappy that many of the developers who secured allocations for GRA plots in the past had abandoned the sites.

He added that the state was ready to partner with any interested individual or group of people for land swapping arrangement in order to develop the estates.

He said: “Let me also confirm to you that, in order to provide infrastructure to our GRAs, we are ready to embark on partnership arrangement. So, whoever is prepared to embark on the infrastructure on our GRA should indicate interest, so that we can have what we call land-swapping arrangement. This, in essence, means when you provide the infrastructure, we will give you part of the land so that the added value will be to the benefit of all the parties concerned.”

The Commissioner added that Governor Seyi Makinde has approved the sale of 38 semi-detached units of bungalow situated at Carlton Gate Estate, Akobo, to interested civil servants and members of the public at the rate of 7.5 million Naira only, noting that whoever is interested should visit the Ministry to obtain the form.

He further stated: “We had the 5th meeting of the EXCO today and I can confirm to you that the 38 semi-detached 3-bedroom bungalows at Carlton Gate Estate are now for sale at the rate of N7.5million. Any person that is interested will have to obtain form at the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development. And the modality for the purchase of the forms will be well-laid out.”

The Commissioner, however, said the issue would be handled on the basis of fairness, transparency and accountability.

“Also, I must confirm to you that in line with the spirit of this government, which has high respect for the civil servants, we have assigned part of the units to the civil servants. We will map out a strategy as to how it will be made available to them and the same thing with members of the public. That is the high point with regards to the Carlton Gate everybody has been showing some sort of interest in. We will be fair to everybody in line with the decision of the Executive Council,” he said.

He added that the move to sell the houses was to fulfill part of the present administration’s electoral promises to provide affordable housing for the citizenry.

The Commissioner said: “I can assure members of the public that this government is prepared to do whatever it takes to ensure that we have a variable land system where we can accommodate the interest of well-meaning members of this state,” he said.

“I need to further assure you that anyone that is interested in taking part in our administration of our GRA is welcome but we will ensure that we will only have those who really mean business with us. We will be transparent with everybody and ensure that everything is done properly.

“Furthermore, we will give more on-the-spot report on all other Government Reserved Areas, (GRAs); those that we have visited on the 16th September and Monday 23rd of this month. It’s an ongoing process, because we have embarked on some visits including that of Thursday and the one we will do sometimes next week.”

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