Hamzat vows to enforce one-year rent rule at Lagos governorship debate

Lagos Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat said on Sunday that the state would enforce the rule limiting landlords to one year’s rent in advance, at the first debate between the main candidates for governor in 2027.

Hamzat, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, said the rule is in the Lagos State Real Estate Registration Agency law and that the government’s next task was to make landlords comply. “People should not be asked 2 years, 3 years ahead because nobody gets salary three years ahead,” he said at the debate, which was broadcast live by Channels Television.

Demands for two or three years’ rent up front remain a common complaint among Lagos tenants, although the state’s 2011 Tenancy Law already bars landlords from asking a new tenant for more than a year. The House of Representatives is considering a bill to curb compulsory multi-year rent demands in the Federal Capital Territory.

The debate was organised by the Nigeria Debate Consortium of Channels Television, TVC News, The PUNCH, TheCable and Vanguard.

Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) promised more than 100,000 housing units, allocated so that no one could own several, and a law requiring six months’ notice of any rent increase. He said rises should be limited to “between 20 to 30 per cent”.

Rhodes-Vivour said that “on paper, Lagos celebrates a high IGR, but on the ground, people are not feeling it”, accusing successive governments of favouring the wealthy.

Hamzat said the state had built 24 housing estates in the last eight years. He promised mortgages with a 10 per cent down payment and the balance spread over 25 years, and said ongoing housing projects would be completed.

Funso Doherty of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) promised free public schooling with no exam fees, a daily affordable meal for pupils and 150,000 affordable homes. He said close to 90 per cent of the state’s internally generated revenue came from taxes on residents. “It is the government that is failing,” he said.

Funso Doherty also said there was “no political will” to deal with the agbero system of touts who collect money from bus drivers, which he blamed for holding back the modernisation of public transport.

Deji Doherty of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) promised rebates on electricity costs for homes and businesses. “With N220 per kilowatt, no industry can be successful,” he said. He questioned whether 150,000 houses could be built in four years.

p>The Lagos debate was the first in a series the consortium plans in battleground states before the 2027 elections. It has not yet announced the next one.

Sources: Channels Television (debate broadcast); Channels Television; Channels Television; The PUNCH; The PUNCH; The PUNCH; The PUNCH; The PUNCH; The PUNCH