By Olusegun Olanrewaju
The Permanent Secretary in the Lagos State Ministry of Housing, Abdulhafis Toriola, has advised members of the public that, henceforth, all applications relating to the transfer of homeownership are to be accompanied by evidence of ownership, search conduct results, and a valid means of identification in cases of loss of documents.
This is to eradicate fraud in the transfer of home ownership and protect the interest of allottees in case of loss of ownership documents.
In a statement yesterday by the Chief Public Affairs Officer (Housing), Mr Adesile Rufai, the Permanent Secretary disclosed this during a strategic management meeting at his Alausa office.
According to him, an allottee who applies for Transfer of Ownership must accompany his/her application with a letter of allocation, payment receipts, and a valid means of identification, to be submitted to the office of the Permanent Secretary.
The statement noted that the move is to ascertain the genuineness of claims of ownership by applicants for proper transfer “which has become necessary given the increased incidents of false claims uncovered by the ministry.”
The permanent secretary disclosed that, henceforth, homeowners applying for replacement of loss of documents must attach the homeowner (s) National Identification Number card (NIN card), police report, and loss of document in a national newspaper to the application for processing and confirmation of ownership.
He further stated that all applications relating to housing transactions in the state are to be accompanied by the evidence of a valid tax clearance certificate of the applicant, including the applicant serving in public or civil service, for application for the home unit, change of ownership, or loss of home ownership document.
The permanent secretary added that all housing construction and provision of infrastructure facilities in the state are funded by taxpayers’ money, adding that beneficiaries of these projects must have evidence of personal income tax.
Toriola warned that the ministry will not process any application that does not include the aforementioned documents.
He enjoined the citizenry to take full advantage of the opportunities offered by the state government in prioritising the completion of all ongoing housing projects to reduce the housing deficit in the state and the nation at large.
