The Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) has called for the establishment of a credible national property data framework to strengthen professional real estate practice, improve investment decisions and enhance transparency in Nigeria’s property market.
The call was made at the investiture of the executive committee, NIESV Abuja (Unity) Branch and the 2026 Mandatory Continuing Professional Development (MCPD) seminar held on Thursday in Abuja.
Bature Muhammad, President and Chairman of Council, NIESV, said reliable property data was essential to improving professional standards and positioning the real estate sector to contribute more effectively to national economic development.
He urged the new chairman and his executive committee to build on the achievements of previous administrations while prioritising professional development, members’ welfare, job creation and innovation.
Muhammad noted that Abuja’s position as Nigeria’s capital would continue to attract real estate investments, stressing that estate surveyors and valuers had important roles to play in supporting the FCT Administration in policy formulation, land administration, asset management, housing and project development.
In his remarks, Chukwuebuka Anih, Chairman, NIESV Abuja Branch, disclosed that his administration had constituted a Committee on Research and Data Collection to preserve historical information about the profession and drive the systematic collection and analysis of reliable real estate market data.
‘We must therefore move away from working in isolation, with valuable market information scattered across individual offices and personal records. We need a more coordinated system for collecting, verifying, analysing, preserving and responsibly sharing real estate information’, he noted.
Anih said the committee had commenced work, urging practitioners to document transactions, share relevant market information and embrace technology to strengthen the profession’s knowledge base.
Speaking at the MCPD seminar, Charles Ebiai, Chairman, National MCPD Committee, said Nigeria’s real estate market remained constrained by undocumented transactions, fragmented records and unreliable market information, making it difficult to establish credible property values and support sound investment decisions.
Ebiai called for collaboration among the Institution, government, financial institutions, developers, technology providers and researchers to establish common standards for property identification, documentation, valuation evidence and data management.
He identified Geographic Information Systems (GIS), artificial intelligence, automated valuation models and reliable transaction records as important components of a functional property data ecosystem.
Earlier, Folarin Akinlotan, Chairman of the NIESV Abuja Branch MCPD Committee, said the seminar was designed to promote reliable data collection, strengthen verification standards and encourage collaboration among professionals, regulators and stakeholders towards developing a unified property data framework.
He described data as the currency of the profession, noting that its availability and reliability were fundamental to credible valuations, sound investment advice and public confidence.