The Federal Government has suspended all previously approved, pending, and planned applications for land allocations and Certificates of Occupancy (C of O) on islands and lagoons across Nigeria.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the Surveyor-General of the Federation, Surv. Abduganiyu A. Adegbomehin, explained that the directive followed a presidential order issued by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on July 30, 2025. The order placed a moratorium on all shoreline, coastal road, island, lagoon, and federal legacy infrastructure developments nationwide.
According to the directive, all such applications must now be resubmitted to the Office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation (OSGOF) for proper survey coordination in line with the National Geospatial Data Infrastructure Policy (NGDI).
“In view of the Presidential Directive issued by His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on July 30, 2025, regarding issues and approvals on all Federal Highways, Shorelines, Coastal Roads, Island and Lagoon Developments, and Federal Legacy Infrastructure, the General Public is invited to note the following: 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, Office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation,” the statement read in part.
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The Federal Government further warned that:
- Any developments encroaching on rights-of-way, or carried out without proper survey coordination, will be demolished.
- Land approvals granted outside the Presidency or OSGOF—including backdated or wrongly issued documents by other agencies—are subject to revocation.
- The National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), which previously granted certain approvals for shoreline and lagoon projects, must submit all such approvals to the Presidency via OSGOF and desist from issuing fresh ones in the future.
OSGOF reminded the public that under the Survey Coordination Act, Cap S13, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, it is the legally designated authority responsible for regulating, standardizing, and harmonizing survey activities nationwide.
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This move builds on earlier warnings by the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Arc. Ahmed Musa Dangiwa. In December 2024, Dangiwa raised concerns over unregulated developments along the Lagos shoreline during an inspection of Lagoon Estates and waterfront properties.
He gave developers a one-month ultimatum to regularize their projects or face demolition and revocation. That ultimatum laid the groundwork for President Tinubu’s July 2025 directive suspending all land allocations and reclamation activities on islands, lagoons, and coastal corridors.
The latest order requiring the resubmission of all Certificates of Occupancy (C of O) requests now centralizes approvals under OSGOF, places past and pending titles under review, and effectively strips agencies like NIWA of their authority to independently grant land rights.
