Expo

The Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) in partnership with the Africa International Housing Show (AIHS) plans to ensure a hitch-free property expo in the city.

A statement issued on Thursday in Abuja by Mrs Olayemi John-Mensah, ACCI Media/Strategy Officer, said that the project aimed at creating a platform for seamless access to housing statistics.

According to the statement, the expo will provide property information related to sales, rent and acquisition through documentation.

“This is in a bid to keep the government and citizens abreast of needful information about property status, sales and acquisition in the country especially the Federal Capital Territory (FCT),’’ it added.

The statement quoted the Chairman Board of Trustees, Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN), Prince Oluseyi Lufadeju, as describing the expo as part of efforts to aid, grow and promote property documentation in Nigeria.

The initiative, which according to him is different from previous expos will help create awareness and sensitize the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) communities.

Lufadeju added that it would enlighten professionals on what is available and areas that need improved infrastructural attention while providing property rating recommendations to the government to avoid rating imbalance.

“The Abuja International Housing Show and the Abuja Chamber of Commerce have come together to find a way of documenting properties in the various communities in Abuja.

“This will be done in such a way that we will have an idea of these properties in the residential areas to know what types of units are there, the materials they are made of and how old the properties are.

“More is the dimension of the structures’ facilities, the value of the properties when they were first constructed and what the current rental and sale values are.

“It will provide a lot of information to the housing sector that you can know the appreciation or depreciation of properties from time to time.

“We want to do an expo that will give the Abuja residents; either people who want to rent, sell, or buy properties a good idea of what they are trying to buy or what they are dealing with”, he said.

Lufadeju said that apart from the documentation of existing properties as at the time they were approved, “there seems to be no subsequent information about them which is inappropriate’’.

He said that the expo would be replicated in other parts of the country after successfully completing the first phase in Abuja.

“This will not be limited to the beautiful facilities we have in Asokoro, Maitama, Wuse, Apo, Garki, among others.

“We will also go into other metropolitan areas and area councils and do an assessment of the properties that are available.

“Then, we can determine the type of community we are in when we know the type of property that is available.

“Invariably, this initiative will be beneficial to both the government and the community,’’ Lufadeju said.