Smart Adeyemi of Kogi west senatorial district has sponsored a bill to stop landlords from demanding annual rent from tenants.

“The law we are proposing stipulates a maximum advance rent payment of three months. After the expiration of the three months rent, the tenants are expected to pay monthly,” said the senator.

Mr Adeyemi explained that the bill became necessary with landlords demanding exorbitant one-year and two-year advance rent.

The proposed bill stipulates a maximum advance rent payment of three months and subsequent monthly payment.

The bill, ‘Advance Rent for Residential Apartments, Office Spaces, Etc, Regulation Bill 2022’, seeks to make it an offence for landlords to demand rent beyond the stipulated three months.

Briefing journalists after the first reading, Mr Adeyemi said, “We discovered that landlords are compelling tenants to make one-year and two-year advance rent payments before they would give them keys to their apartments.”

He added, “It may not be an issue to quite a number of people but to many others, it is a great pain for them. Most Nigerians need the protection of the law to be able to meet their basic needs after paying rent.”

According to the senator, landlords who built houses from looted funds impoverish average Nigerians.

“Many landlords did not secure loans to build their houses. They are products of free money they acquire from the system. Yet, they make life difficult for poor Nigerians who do not have such privilege of making ill-gotten money from the system and put up structures,” stated Mr Adeyemi. “There are many tenants whose salaries are competing with their rents because they live in cities like Abuja. The law will prevent the poor workers from any form of oppression.”