The Nigerian government has the power to acquire private property for public use. However, the exercise of such power is not without controversy. The way in which governments exercise this right, especially for urban expansion, undermines tenure security, and because often little or no compensation is paid, also has negative impacts on equity and transparency
The acquisition and management of state lands have left in their trail several unresolved problems. Among them are the acquisition of lands far in excess of actual requirements, unpaid compensation in respect of some of the acquisitions, encroachment on acquired lands, lack of intergenerational equity in the utilization of paid compensation, change of use of compulsorily acquired land as against the purpose of the acquisition, optimizing the use and economic returns of state lands, private sector participation in the development of compulsorily acquired land, etc.