Gombe State Governor, Inuwa Yahaya, has banned Local Government Chairmen in the state from selling lands within 15 kilometres of council headquarters.
Governor Inuwa’s order was communicated by the Executive Chairman of the Gombe State Urban Planning and Development Authority (GOSUPDA), Samanja Bappayo Maudo, on Tuesday.
Maudo said the lands within 20km of the Gombe Local Government headquarters and 15 kilometres of Kwami and Yamaltu-Deba local governments have been designated as urban areas.
Aside from the Gombe Council area, lands within 15km of all other local council areas were also designated as urban areas, noting that the state government can only effect the allocation or sale of lands within the designated kilometres.
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“In the exercise of the powers conferred upon his excellency by section 3 of the Land Use Act of 1978 and all other powers enabling him on that behalf, his excellency Alhaji Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, governor of Gombe State, hereby make the following orders.
“One, all the land within a 20-kilometre radius of the Gombe local government council area is hereby designated as an urban area. Two, all local government council headquarters in this state and all the land within 15 kilometres of the local government headquarters specified are also designated as urban areas.
So, from the commencement of this order, it shall not be lawful for any local government council to grant any right of occupancy to any person over any undeveloped land specified in sections two and three of this order.
“No local government chairman or anybody is allowed to allocate or to take over or to say this particular land belongs to this particular local government,” Maudo stated.
Further clarifying, the Director General of Gombe State Geographic Information System (GOGIS), Kabiru Usman Hassan, during the press conference, explained that the policy was meant to expand the state’s urban areas and extend development projects to them.
He lamented that “due to indiscriminate land allocation, when the government wants to execute projects, it pays compensation to lands and properties, but that this designation will enable the government to execute projects without hitches”.
