Town Planners Fault Constitution Of Land Use, Allocation Committee

The Association of Town Planning Consultants of Nigeria (ATOPCON) has faulted the inauguration of the Land Use and Allocation Committee for land projects by the Office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation (OSGOF).

The professionals, in a statement signed by their president, Hakeem Olatunji Badejo, said they viewed with profound concern the press statement from the Office of the Surveyor General of the Federation (OSGOF) dated January 16, 2026, announcing the inauguration of a “Land Use and Allocation Committee for Land Projects.”

The senior in the statement tagged, a call to order:  “On the establishment of a land use allocation committee by the office of the surveyor general of the federation said though they support the modernization of land administration through geospatial data, the attempt by OSGOF to assume the mantle of physical planning, land use zoning, land allocation, and development enforcement is not only unprofessional and unethical but also a clear act of legal and administrative overreach.

‘’In fact, the composition of the purported five-member committee is indefensibly biased, comprising four land surveyors and one quantity surveyor, while excluding the two estate surveyors and a lawyer as clearly and expressly stated in the Land Use Act.

“The power of composition of the LUAC members is expressly given to the Governor and not the SGOF. The SGOF ignores the other seven core professionals recognised by the Nigerian Urban and Regional Planning Law to guide orderly development. Yet, he wants to achieve orderly development. ‘’

Harping on the legal imperative of the matter, he said it is a clear violation of jurisdiction because the OSGOF’s action disregards the settled constitutional and administrative hierarchy of Nigeria.

He said, “Residual Powers: the Supreme Court has long affirmed that urban and regional planning is a residual matter. Except for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the Federal Government lacks the concurrent and exclusive legislative competence to impose physical planning regulations on the Federating States.

“Ultra Vires Action: the Land Use Act vests land within each state in the Governor. It does not, anywhere, vest land management or allocation powers in the Surveyor General of the Federation. The Act explicitly mandates that physical development plans are to be prepared and executed by duly constituted Town Planning Authorities. The laws establishing the Office of the Surveyor General confer no such powers. Therefore, this committee is a direct affront to the extant legal framework governing land use administration in Nigeria.’’

As it relates to technical competence in the built environment, he argued that,’’ the core competence of the Land Surveyor is the precise measurement and mapping of land. Conversely, Land Use Planning—the strategic determination of how land is utilised for housing, commerce, industry, and infrastructure—requires the specialised expertise of the Town Planner, not a land surveyor.

“The OSGOF’s claim that it will ‘ensure compliance with land use regulations’ is fundamentally flawed. The surveyor provides the spatial canvas; the town planner creates the legal and visionary blueprint for its use. For one profession to arrogate the core functions of the other is an invitation to professional anarchy.’’