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Ogun State House of Assembly has acknowledged Governor Dapo Abiodun’s correspondence proposing three bills including the Administration of Physical Planning, Urban Development, Slum Regeneration and Building Production Management Law, State Law Reform Commission and Ogun State Residents Registrations Agency Law.
The Speaker, Rt. Hon Olakunle Oluomo, who read the governor’s letter dated 3rd December, 2020 today at the plenary shortly after the lawmakers’ resumption from the two-week budget defence sessions by Heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies at the Assembly Complex, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta noted that the three bills were for the due consideration of the lawmakers and subsequent passage into law.
According to the Governor, the bill to provide for the administration of physical planning is “in furtherance of the vision of this administration for a more orderly, developed and liveable Ogun State, it has become necessary to review the legal regime governing physical planning and urban development in the State with a view to bringing the Laws up to date and ensuring that the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development and its agencies are truly empowered and positioned to effect the needed transformation and ensure speedy fulfillment of the vision.
The proposed law clearly represents a marked improvement on the present legal regime governing urban and physical planning in the State. The creation of different authorities to handle different aspects of the Ministry’s functions, the detailed and updated provisions dealing with the process of obtaining approvals and permits, the equally detailed penal provisions meant to ensure strict compliance by citizens, residents and investors and the huge potential to generate revenue inherent in the Law, are in line with current global trends in the ordered environment field”.
Justifying the rationale behind the proposal of the State Residents Registration Agency, the Governor stated that the implementation of the law would enable the biometric data of residents to be captured for integration into the National Identity Management database.
According to the Governor, “the importance of identifying and quantifying the residents of a State cannot be overstated. The ability of a State to identify its citizens and their residences is necessary for the development and security of such State and for ensuring that the residents are, and remain, responsible and accountable. In addition, the ability to identify its residents enables a State to adequately allocate resources to meet their needs and also maintain and update economic and demographic data on them. The data is extremely useful for planning, attracting investment and improving revenue generation”.
He added that the third bill on State Law Reform Commission was proposed owing to the emergency of the State as the industrial hub of the nation, which had necessitated the need for laws to be modified and shaped to better reflect present indices including present economic circumstances, the changing values of society and the more stringent demands of local and international economic partners and regulators.
The proposed Commission, the Governor noted upon its take-off, would work closely with the State Assembly towards ensuring that the State remain proactive in updating its laws.