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The Federal Government has suspended all previously approved, pending, and planned land allocations and Certificates of Occupancy (C of O) on islands and lagoons nationwide. All applications must now be resubmitted to the Office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation (OSGOF) for proper coordination.
This directive follows a presidential order issued by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on July 30, 2025.
Surveyor-General of the Federation, Abduganiyu Adegbomehin, announced the suspension in a statement on Sunday. He explained that the move aims to prevent distortions to the Federal Infrastructural Master Plan and ensure compliance with the National Geospatial Data Infrastructure Policy (NGDI).
“All approved, pending, and intended requests for issuance of Allocations and Certificates of Occupancy on Island and Lagoon Developments are hereby suspended and must be submitted for proper survey coordination to the Presidency, through the Office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation,” the statement read.
The government also issued a warning that any unauthorized developments encroaching on rights-of-way or carried out without proper survey coordination will be demolished.
Additionally, land approvals granted outside the Presidency or OSGOF— including backdated or irregular titles issued by other agencies—will be revoked.
The National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), which had previously issued approvals for shoreline and lagoon projects, has been ordered to submit all such approvals to the Presidency through OSGOF and to cease issuing new ones.
The statement reminded the public that under the Survey Coordination Act, Cap S13, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, OSGOF is the sole authority mandated to regulate, standardize, and harmonize all survey activities across the country.
This recent directive follows earlier warnings. In December 2024, the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Musa Dangiwa, condemned unregulated developments along the Lagos shoreline and gave developers a one-month ultimatum to regularize their projects or face demolition.
That warning paved the way for President Tinubu’s July 2025 order suspending all land allocations and reclamation activities on islands, lagoons, and coastal corridors across Nigeria.
