A bill to curtail land racketeering and computerise the land allocation system in Enugu State has scaled through second reading at the State House of Assembly.

The bill, tagged “Enugu State Geographic Information Service (GIS),” scaled second reading during the plenary session on Thursday.

Leading the debate on the bill, the minority leader, Iloabuchi Aniagu, said the legislation, when enacted and implemented, would ensure that all lands in the state were computerised to avoid the issuance of multiple Certificate-of-Occupancy (C-of-O) on a particular land.

Mr Aniagu regretted that many lands in the state have more than five C-of-Os because of the conspiracy by members of staff of the ministry of land, adding that there are over 5,000 land cases bothering multiple C-of-Os in Court.

He expressed the hope that the computerisation of land in the state would reduce litigations pending in the ministry by 80 per cent.

According to him, the legislation will also help attract a lot of investors as it will eliminate problems encountered by the investors in registering and acquiring land for their investment in the state.

Another lawmaker, Mr Solomon Onah, described the bill as the best thing that would happen to the state, saying that enacting it would check land certificate forgery and other unwholesome activities going on in the ministry.

Onah, who was a former Commissioner for Land, disclosed that he pushed for the bill when he was a commissioner but regretted that he did not succeed.

He further opined that GIS would help to block revenue leakages and stop the “missing C-of-O”.

Osita Okoh (Enugu East Urban) said the bill would resolve the problem of land litigation in various communities, especially in Nike communities.

According to Mr Okoh, the enactment of the GIS bill will remedy a lot of things and also protect the poor, who struggle to buy land.

Also contributing, Obiajulu Ugwu, while aligning with the submissions of other lawmakers, said the computerisation of land would resolve abnormalities in land management in Amechi Communities and Enugu South Rural Constituency.

She appreciated the state government for recognising 35 per cent affirmative action for women on the board to manage GIS when set up.

In a remark, the Speaker, Uche Ugwu, asked the House committees on land, judiciary and education to conduct a public hearing on the bill and report back to the House on Tuesday, Jan. 30.

(NAN)