The Federal Government has announced the suspension of allocations and approvals relating to shorelines, coastal roads, island, and lagoon developments across the country, following a presidential directive issued by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on July 30, 2025.
The directive, conveyed through the Office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation (OSGOF), is aimed at safeguarding Nigeria’s federal highways and legacy infrastructure from encroachment and uncoordinated development.
Speaking in Abuja, the Surveyor-General of the Federation, Surv. Abduganiyu A. Adebomehin, stated that a moratorium would now be enforced on all new requests for shoreline and coastal documentation. He warned that developments encroaching on the Right of Way and projects conceived without proper survey coordination would be demolished to protect the Federal Infrastructural Master Plan as outlined in the National Geospatial Data Infrastructure Policy (NGDI).
He further explained that all approved, pending, and intended requests for allocations or Certificates of Occupancy on island and lagoon developments have been suspended. Such documents must now be resubmitted to the Presidency through OSGOF for proper survey coordination.
The Surveyor-General also directed the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) to immediately submit records of all past approvals granted to individuals and corporate bodies. He advised NIWA to stop issuing fresh approvals and collate all previously granted ones for submission to the Presidency.
Reaffirming OSGOF’s mandate under the Survey Coordination Act, Cap S13, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, Adebomehin stressed that OSGOF remains the sole legally designated body responsible for regulating, standardizing, and harmonizing survey activities nationwide. He added that all wrongfully assigned or backdated approvals not issued through the Presidency and OSGOF would be revoked at the President’s directive.
The move is expected to halt indiscriminate development on Nigeria’s sensitive coastal and federal infrastructure corridors while ensuring a more coordinated framework for future projects.
