The Federal Government has suspended all previously approved, pending, and planned applications for land allocations and Certificates of Occupancy (C of O) on islands and lagoons, directing that they be resubmitted to the Office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation (OSGOF) for proper coordination.

The move follows a presidential directive issued on 30 July 2025 by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, placing a moratorium on shoreline, coastal road, island, lagoon, and other federal legacy infrastructure developments nationwide.

Surveyor-General of the Federation, Abduganiyu Adegbomehin, announced the suspension in a statement on Sunday, stressing that it was necessary to prevent distortions to the Federal Infrastructural Master Plan in line with the National Geospatial Data Infrastructure Policy (NGDI).

“All approved, pending, and intended requests for issuance of Allocations and Certificates of Occupancy on Island and Lagoon Developments are hereby suspended and must be submitted for proper survey coordination to the Presidency, through the Office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation,” the directive stated.

The government also warned that any developments encroaching on rights-of-way, or carried out without proper survey coordination, would be demolished.

It added that land approvals granted outside the Presidency or OSGOF — including backdated or irregular titles issued by other agencies — would be revoked.

The National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), which had previously granted approvals for shoreline and lagoon projects, has now been ordered to submit all such approvals to the Presidency through OSGOF and desist from issuing new ones.

The statement reminded the public that, under the Survey Coordination Act, Cap S13, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, OSGOF is the sole body mandated to regulate, standardise, and harmonise all survey activities nationwide.

The latest order builds on earlier warnings. In December 2024, the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Musa Dangiwa, decried unregulated developments along the Lagos shoreline and gave developers a one-month ultimatum to regularise projects or face demolition.

That warning laid the groundwork for President Tinubu’s July 2025 directive suspending all land allocations and reclamation activities on islands, lagoons, and coastal corridors across the country.

The new suspension now formalises the process by centralising approvals under OSGOF, reviewing past and pending allocations, and barring agencies such as NIWA from independently issuing land rights.