This is how it is done . Make an initiative/policy law and provide clear and unambigous legal provisions to punish those who wish to act with impugnity. GEJ should attempt to copy Fashola more. That would make him realise that pushing for the automatic imprisonment and lifetime ban of election riggers will have a more dramatic result on the 'monetisation' of our politics than a self-serving 'Cart before the horse' attempt to wrap tenure elongation as a solution to how politics is currently "do or die" in Nigeria.

http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20110825254470

Fashola signs Lagos Tenancy Bill
By Sesan Olufowobi
Thursday, 25 Aug 2011
 

The Lagos State House of Assembly debate on Tenacy Bill ended on Wednesday as Governor Babatunde Fashola signed it(bill) into law.

With the new law, any landlord who collects more than a year rent from a new tenant will spend three months in jail or pay a fine of N100,000.

Also, any landlord who demands for a rent of more than six months from a sitting tenant will be liable to six months in jail or pay N100,000 fine.

Forcible eviction of a tenant by any landlord attracts six months jail term or N250, 000 fine.

Forcible ejection or eviction of a tenant includes removal of the roof or doors to an apartment by a landlord or his caretaker or agent.

Fashola, who also signed the state Park and Gardens Bill, said the onus had fallen on property owners to be at the forefront of making life bearable for those who do not own property in the state.

He added that if property owners made sacrifice, many things would change for the better as price indices would move in a more affordable direction and everyone would be better for it.

The governor said, “Let us remember that property owners are privileged when compared to tenants. This law seeks change like it is done in all decent societies by asking the privileged to sacrifice a little so that the underprivileged can have a survival chance.

“This is the reason why this bill has been commended even before it became a law. It seeks to protect the poor and the underprivileged. A society that cannot protect the underprivileged cannot protect the privileged.”

Fashola reiterated his administration’s commitment to the provision of affordable housing in the state, stressing that details of implementation would soon be made public.

He said the law had done a lot to reduce and simplify personal service (like the use of agents and lawyers), notice to quit and alternative dispute resolution.

He said, “It seeks to ask us to stop passing the cost of our solicitors and our agents because after asking for two years rent, we also ask the tenant to pay landlord’s agent fees and the landlord’s lawyer’s fees who will make an agreement in favour of the landlord.

“That tenant has a right to also go and engage his own lawyer. This is the character and representative essence of our democracy. This is the law our people want.”

Ön the Park and Gardens Law, he said it was in furtherance of the environmental policy of the government.

but some landlord are simply callous sha. how can you just remove the roof of ur tenant for whatever reason. na wa oooo

Interesting.

Demdem:

but some landlord are simply callous sha. how can you just remove the roof of your tenant for whatever reason. na wa oooo

My brother, unchecked impunity is one of the main reason Nigeria is the way it is . Some Landlord will even change the locks and give tenants a serious beating into the bargain. I know , from first hand experience, that tenants can be a pain. As a UK landlord , I have had sit-tight tenants who stopped paying their rent. I had to go through the courts (a three to six months proccess) to get them out while I was still obligated to keep up the mortgage payment on the properties!!! Painful but the law must be complied with and there are certain things the law must prevent landlord from doing even if provoked by difficult tenants.

It is the same in every facet of Nigerian life. Our leaders , because they are criminals themselves or in bed with criminality, don't believe in checking impunity and this is why corruption and lawlessness is pervasive everywhere.

Why , for example, do we not make acts of corruption punishable by jail sentences of ten years or more ,with no option of plea bargain, considering that corruption is killing Nigeria and serious punitive deterrent against it is required?

Why not make it automatic for election riggers to be jailed and banned from further participation in politics before embarking on spurious endeavours like 6-7 years single term?

Why not make it automatic for abuse of office to attract jail sentence? look at the allegation of bribery and wrongdoing flying around regarding our failed Privatisation efforts. Yet I can bet that not one person will see the inside of a prison.

Man tire sef.

Sai Fashola 2015!
Look at judgement with insightful wisdom. By the day, this man is making his himself more competent than ALL african rulers/leaders going by his policies on direct impact and subsequent reduction of hardship on the masses.

Imagine a young graduate relocating for his new job after a long hustle in the "labour market", only to be ask to pay 2 years rent by the landlord? These heartless mindless criminals will still rip the helpless by collecting a certain percentage as "drinking money" , "marching ground" or "owo omo ni le"?

While others, are thinking of making things very difficult for a common man by trying to remove all subsidy from thier clave of cluelessness, this amiable leader applies caution with deep sense of wisdom.

No affordable housing + this law = Homelessness on a scale never before seen in Lagos. I hope all the Fashola ass-lickers are ready to accomodate the homeless hordes that will soon stream out into the streets. Let's hope Fashola also read Affordable Housing 101!

Thanks for posting this.

This is a good, uplifting, and inspiring read. This is what you get when the people you elect to look out for you from the legislative to the judiciary and executive are actually serious about you and your way of life, when they sit together to create and sign into law good quality laws to protect you.

I also admire the fact that these guys don't just talk and run their mouth, they back and seal everything up with laws.

I truly agree with you, this is good leadership.

djustice:

No affordable housing + this law = Homelessness on a scale never before seen in Lagos. I hope all the Fashola Bottom-lickers are ready to accomodate the homeless hordes that will soon stream out into the streets. Let's hope Fashola also read Affordable Housing 101!

Is lack of affordable housing a Lagos only problem or is it a common problem across Nigeria? Besides, what exactly is your argument ? When folks , in developed Nations , pay their rent monthly are you suggesting we continue the trend whereby landlord can act with impunity and demand rent ten years in advance?

This law is entirely positive and only someone not wishing to give credit where it is due will say otherwise. Landlords will still get their money but over a sensible period of time that does not put unreasonable pressure on potential tenants. In theory , this will improve the accomodation situtation because a landlord happy to keep his property empty in wait for tenants willing to pay 4 years in advance will now have no choice but to rent to those who will pay 6 months advance rent. Good leadership sets good precedence and this is a very good precedence for others to follow. Poor Lagosians ,long put upon by a silly "cash is king" culture, can now have some respite. Well done Governor Fashola . This is a totally pro-people move in a Country typified by wckedly anti-people policies.

Eko Ile:

Thanks for posting this.

This is a good, uplifting, and inspiring read. This is what you get when the people you elect to look out for you from the legislative to the judiciary and executive are actually serious about you and your way of life, when they sit together to create and sign into law good quality laws to protect you.

I also admire the fact that these guys don't just talk and run their mouth, they back and seal everything up with laws.

I truly agree with you, this is good leadership.

indeed and others should copy this initiative. The only way forward towards an egalitarian Nation is for all of us , buyers and sellers , to key into the concept of paying for goods and services on credit or within an acceptable time frame commensurate with average earnings. It is bad enough most people will never be able to buy a home but it is criminal for a gainfully employed person to not be able to rent a home because he has to pay 2 years rent in advance.

The "cash is king" mentality is partly responsible for why Nigerians have routinely become a people who are always chasing cash slavisly and over-zealously to the extent they will do unsavoury things to gain large amounts of it. When folks are forced , by a cash and carry society, to live above their earnings then corruption and criminality thrives.

Good leaders should be looking for ways to empower our average citizen , as obtains in the best nations worldwide, rather than what we have currently where even decent things are for the very small percentage of Nigerians who are well off. Elitism ti poju Ni Nigeria and many of our leaders seem to love it that way hence their anti-people policies. Oga Fashola, God bless.