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.
The directive, issued on July 30, 2025, by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, requires all interested persons to resubmit their applications to the Office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation (OSGOF) for proper coordination.
Surveyor-General of the Federation, Abduganiyu Adegbomehin, confirmed the suspension in a statement on Sunday, noting that the measure was necessary to protect the Federal Infrastructural Master Plan in line 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 further warned that any developments encroaching on rights-of-way, or executed without proper survey coordination, would be demolished. It also stressed that land approvals not granted by the Presidency or OSGOF—including backdated or irregular titles from other agencies—would be revoked.
In line with the directive, the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), which previously issued approvals for shoreline and lagoon projects, has been ordered to forward all such approvals to the Presidency through OSGOF and desist from granting new ones.
The statement also reminded the public that, under the Survey Coordination Act, Cap S13, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, OSGOF remains the sole authority empowered to regulate, standardise, and harmonise survey activities nationwide.
This latest order builds on 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 regularise their projects or face demolition. That warning set the stage for President Tinubu’s July 2025 suspension of all land allocations and reclamation activities across islands, lagoons, and coastal corridors in the country.