he Nigerian Senate recently passed a bill that would empower an association of real estate companies to not only regulate its members but also regulate its competitors and others in the industry.
The bill has now generated so much controversy with a lawmaker describing it as the most ‘selfish’ bill she has seen passed by any of Nigeria’s houses of parliament.
Sponsored by Sokoto senator, Aliyu Wamakko, the Real Estate Regulations and Development Bill essentially turns the Real Estate Development Association of Nigeria (REDAN) into a quasi-regulator. REDAN’s powers, as granted by the bill if it becomes law, is so much that the Nigerian president cannot appoint the head for the new regulatory body without REDAN’s ‘recommendation.’ Perhaps coincidentally, REDAN is currently headed by Senator Wamakko’s brother, Aliyu Wamakko.
“It’s like a group of old generation banks forming an association and then asking the government to empower the association to regulate all other Nigerian banks,” a real estate developer told PREMIUM TIMES. “What we want is an independent regulator, a government regulator, not a REDAN regulator.”
The Bill
The proposed law will not only regulate the real estate sector in the country but will also stop unscrupulous developers from defrauding intending homeowners who pay and never get the houses. This is what the sponsor of the bill and its backers told Nigerians to expect if the legislation is passed and eventually signed into law.
Senator Wamakko said the bill will protect the interest and investment of participants and investors in the sector as well as ensure that transactions are done in a transparent manner, which will boost confidence in the sector.
During the lead debate at the Senate plenary of June 22, 2021, he told his colleagues that the legislation will also engender speedy development in the sector, as investors will not have to entertain fears of lack of legislation regulating the sector and the multiplier effect thereof.
“The real estate has been largely unrelated with absence of professionalism, leaving customers at the mercy of fraudsters,” Mr Wamakko told other lawmakers.
“It would, therefore, guarantee legitimate transactions in lands and landed properties and completely discourage the involvement of charlatans in the real estate dealings. To that end, the Act mandates the appropriate government (Federal, State and Local Government) to establish the Real Estate Regulatory Authority in existing land registry to enforce the proposed Act, with a view to protect the interest of customers in the sector and provide a mechanism for ensuring compliance,” he said.
Five months later, in November, the upper chamber passed the bill.
