Oyo State Government is beginning to rake in huge sums of revenue that will total N8.7 billion from its newly inaugurated Government Reserved Area (GRA) in Ibadan, Source confirm.
The estate, located near the Ibadan end of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, is named after a former governor of the state, Sen. Rashidi Ladoja.
Made up of 580 service plots, each plot is being sold for N15 million, totalling N8.7 billion. The GRA is sitting on approximately 100 hectares.
It was inaugurated by Governor Seyi Makinde last month to honour Ladoja when he turned 78.
At the inauguration of the GRA, Makinde said the new GRAs were being established in major towns and cities in the state, including Ogbomoso, Iseyin and Saki.
He added that the estates would be named after former governors Abiola Ajimobi and Lam Adesina, as well as ex-Secretary to the State Government Chief Michael Koleoso.
Makinde said: “As our city continues to grow and economy is expanding, there is need for housing and we have to meet this demand across various income groups. We have Public Private Partnership (PPP) where government provides the land and developers develop it. We ensure that amenities such as electricity supply from the grid, road and water are available at the GRAs. The GRAs will improve the development of our cities.
“The process of purchase is very open. Apply online, choose your plot, pay for it and have it. The infrastructures are being built as the allocation goes on.
“We chose to name this GRA after Ladoja because of his contributions to Oyo State, one of which was the conceptualisation of the circular road. I have gone through files and confirmed that Ladoja conceptualised and started the circular road. So, we are giving honour to whom it is due.”
Coming after Chief Lere Adigun GRA, the new GRA was the second to be established by the Makinde administration.
The governor had, during his campaign, promised to improve the state’s revenue without imposing new taxes on residents. Revenue from land projects accounts for significant percentage of the revenue growth in the last two years. The administration also transformed the process of acquiring certificate of occupancy (C of O), which makes its issuance possible within three months and also introduced home owners’ chatter, which allows unregistered new buildings to acquire an equivalent of C of O within a short period.
Under Makinde, Oyo State revenue grew from N114billion in 2020 to N155 in 2021. Out of the N41billion increase, Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) accounted for N14billion, having risen from N38billion to N52billion. The feat helped the state’s ranking in IGR as at end of 2021.
