A Lagos State lawmaker has said that more than 60 per cent of the Certificates of Occupancy, C of O, in the state are fake.

The chairman, committee on lands and housing, Lagos State House of Assembly, Bayo Osinowo, disclosed this during Thursday’s plenary session.

He said if passed into law, the state’s Properties Protection Bill, 2013, which had scaled through the second reading, would correct the anomaly.

Osinowo said that the proposed law would also check otherwrongdoings associated with landed property ownership and sale in the state.

“In Lagos State, land is our major resource; therefore, nothing will be too much to protect it,” he said.

Chairman house committee on human rights and public petitions,Sanai Agunbiade, in his contribution said that the bill would take care of agents who took landed property forcefully, as it would prevent anyone who, without lawful authority, uses violence to secure entry into any landed property.

“The bill would prevent ‘Omo-onile’ (indigenes) from exploiting potential buyers before or during construction work,” he said.

The proposed bill recommends three years imprisonment or an option of N300, 000 fine for offenders.