Estate valuers have attributed the current economic instability to Federal Government’s failure to properly evaluate its assets before disposing of them.
Chairman, Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV), Ogun State Branch, Mr Bola Orekoya, stated this on Tuesday, May 7, while speaking with newsmen during a walk to mark the 2024 National Valuation Day in Abeokuta, the state capital.
Orekoya said that the failure had resulted in significant revenue losses, posing serious challenges to the economy.
He noted that improper pricing of assets had led to financial instability in Nigeria, adding that the focus for this year was on the “Importance of Asset Valuation for Financial Stability”.
According to the chairman, Nigeria has valuable assets but what is crucial is having the correct and current value of those assets.
“So many of these assets are all over the place, all over the nation.
“Public assets, especially the public buildings, the library and even the barracks, are all public assets.
“Improper pricing of assets has led to financial instability in Nigeria and the focus for this year is ‘Importance of Asset Valuation for Financial Stability’,” he said.
Orekoya said that this was to create more awareness among the rank and file so that everybody would know where to go and what to do as far as their assets were concerned.
He called on the Ogun State Government to immediately commence taking inventory of the state’s functional and abandoned assets.
The chairman added that such assets should be valued to enable the citizens understand how solvent or otherwise the state was, on the heels of agitations for a new minimum wage.
He said that the institute proposed a partnership between the federal government and estate surveyors and valuers in the area of valuation to achieve economic stability.
“Government should engage estate surveyors and valuers fully to assist in asset valuation, which will go a long way in ensuring financial stability for both the private and public sectors,” he said.
Earlier in his remarks, Vice-Chairman of the institute, Adejimi Adeolu, noted that asset valuation was key to economic valuation and financial stability for both the government and the private sector.
“Asset valuation is a continuous process. Government needs to start valuing all these assets.
“They need to engage valuers in valuing their assets from time to time. This will guide them in policy making as well,” he said.
By Yetunde Fatungase
