Ibadan – Oyo State Commissioner for Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Mr Williams Akin-Funmilayo, has attributed the improvement and increase in the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to the visionary leadership of Governor ‘Seyi Makinde.
This was as he declared that the opening up of new Government Reservation Areas (GRA), digitization of land allocation and title documents, among other initiatives, have resulted in the massive leap experienced in the state’s IGR.
Akin-Funmilayo stated this while addressing pressmen at the afternoon session of the Omituntun 2.0 Inter-Ministerial Briefing, held on Thursday.
He said about 15 GRAs were created through the public-private partnership model, while the ministry also introduced several initiatives, including electronic allocation letters, deployment of online allocation and plot selection on its website, www.lands.oyostate.gov.ng.
He said there was amnesty programme for building permits and deployment of online building permit platform.
He also said the issuance of 17, 046 digital title documents since the inception of the Governor Makinde administration, deployment of the Oyo State Property Reference System (OYPRS) for easy identification of properties and payment of land-based taxes as well as the expansion of the tax net, have culminated into the ministry achieving improved revenues on a year-on-year basis.
According to Akin-Funmilayo, the ministry recorded increased revenue generation in the last two years of Omituntun 2.0.
He disclosed that the ministry contributed ₦4.8 billion to the state’s coffers in 2023, while it achieved ₦6.1 billion in 2024, with the 2025 revenue generation, as of 15 May, standing at ₦3.2 billion.
The commissioner said the GRAs opened by the state government include the Engr. Lere Adigun GRA, which has been completed.
He listed others under construction to include the Senator Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja GRA, Senator Isiaka Abiola Ajimobi GRA, Otunba Christopher Adebayo Alao Akala GRA, Chief Lateef Oyelade GRA, Signature Estate, Woodland Estate, Chief Michael Adeniyi Koleosho GRA, Baywood Gardens, Hon. Akinremi Jagaban GRA, Kolapo Ishola Land Phase II Extension, Akobo, Mokola Hill Top GRA, Tonabim Estate, Oyo GRA and Ogbomoso GRA.
“As of today, we have some GRAs that are not yet in the market. The one at Alalubosa is not in the market yet, we are going to sell very soon.
“The one at Aerodrome is not yet in the market; we are going to sell very soon. The one at Agodi Gardens is also not in the market yet,” he said.
Akin-Funmilayo further said: “Cumulatively, from January to May 2024, we achieved ₦2.7billion, while cumulatively from January to May 2025, we achieved ₦3.2 billion, which is an increase of about ₦500 million.
“For us to record that level of improvement, we had to appraise ourselves. We did serious analysis and where corrective measures needed to be taken, we did just that.
“In the area of title documents issued, all together, we had about 17,000 plus from 2019 to date. Out of that number, almost 8,000 were issued within the past two years, which means that about 9,000 were issued in the first term.
“Out of the number for the last two years, 4,570 were issued in 2024, which was the highest since 2019.
“In May 2025 alone, we issued 1,008. So, I can tell you that by December this year, we should be able to achieve about 5,000 issuance of these titled documents.”
The commissioner added that his ministry has also introduced innovations such as the digitisation of property cards and files in the Deeds Registry to protect and preserve historical data.
He added Real Time Kinematic Digital Surveying Equipment was provided for the use of surveyors to enhance surveying in the state.
Other achievements, he noted, include the New Land Use Charge Act, which has been signed and passed into Law and recruitment of 77 additional staff members into the ministry to improve efficiency.
He said there was payment of compensation to the tune of ₦935,846,000 to property owners affected by the various infrastructure development projects of the state government.
The projects, he said, included the East Wing of the Senator Rashidi Ladoja Circular Road (₦260,000,000.00); Ajia Junction Improvement Interchange (₦139,000,000.00); Right of way/weigh bridge of Ogbomoso/Iseyin Road (₦23,846,000.00) and the Air Force Base, Ajia (₦513,000,000.00).
Responding to questions from newsmen, Akin-Funmilayo admitted that the need to put up necessary infrastructure in the various GRAs being opened up by the government pushed up the cost of land in those places.
He , however, assured that the Makinde administration would achieve affordable GRAs for the middle and low income classes before the expiration of its tenure.
The commissioner added that the ministry was strengthening its processes to ensure that those putting up buildings in the state comply with the regulations with a view to stemming the tide of building collapse in the state.
“We will protect lives and properties in the state by ensuring that house owners and contractors comply with the building regulations in the state.
“We don’t want to lose any life to building collapse. We also don’t want our people to lose their properties. So, as a government we will do what is required of us to stamp out building collapse in the state,” he added.
The commissioner advised those putting up buildings to always get in touch with the ministry for approval and guidance before embarking on construction to guard against ugly occurrences.
The Lands Commissioner said the Ministry would be focusing on house numbering in the coming months as part of the projections for the future.
“House numbering is one of the promises we made and the digitalization and archiving of all documents in the ministry.
“And, maybe the last is – let me also say independence – partial independence for the Physical Planning Department, which is to let it become a unit or a division on its own.
“We have already started the administrative work on it and maybe before the year runs out, we would have gone far on this vision,” he said.
