The Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) has condemned the attempt by the engineers venturing into the practice of valuation, describing such act as “illegal.”
According to NIESV’s President, Mr. Emma OkasWike, the enabling law for the practice of the profession, the Estate Surveyors and Valuers Registration Board of Nigeria Decree No. 24 of 1975, now CAP E13 LFN 2004, recognised the practice of valuation as the sole prerogative of estate surveyors and valuers.
Speaking in Port Harcourt,Rivers State, during the maiden edition of Valuation Day’s Celebration, the president frowned at attempt by non-estate surveyors and valuers to get the job, maintaining that valuation is a service that the law of the country exclusively gave to estate surveyors and valuers.
He said:”The most recent is the inglorious and unacceptable attempt by the engineers to veer into this core competence of estate surveyors and valuers.
“It is therefore absolutely wrong, and illegal to give valuation jobs to non-estate surveying and valuation firms.
“It is against the law of the land because valuation is a service that the law of this country exclusively gives to estate surveyors and valuers.”
He added: “Let it also be stated that estate surveyors and valuers are the only professionals trained and equipped with the requisite skills of determining the current or projected worth of an asset or a company.
“In other words, estate surveyors and valuers are responsible for the determination of economic worth of assets in all its ramifications, the only professionals empowered by training and law to value and fix monetary value on assets.”
He said the celebration of NIESV’s Valuation Day, the first in Nigeria, was in consonance with the theme aimed at “Unlocking the Nation’s Wealth Through Valuation.”
Raising the poser, why Valuation? Wike stated that valuation of properties and all assets for various purposes including accounting (IPSAS), insurance, taxation, mortgages, rent, buying and selling and asset registers, among others was not just one of the core competencies of the profession, but that valuation is central to real estate development, national economic wealth and development.
Defining valuation, he said: “It is the determination of the economic worth of assets in all its ramifications,” pointing out that financial institutions, corporate organizations, government and private individuals made critical monetary commitments and decisions on valuation reports.
“Once you get valuation wrong, so many other things will automatically go wrong and that should be a major concern to the practitioners and end users especially against the attempt by non-estate surveyors and valuers to venture into the practice of valuation.
“Having said that, what we intend to achieve is to make the event of today an official event of NIESV.
“Tagged 2022 Valuation Day, with the theme; “Unlocking Wealth through Valuation”, we intend to dissect and create awareness on the huge financial potentials and benefits which are embedded in valuation when it is carried out professionally and appropriately.
Wike said there were globally acceptable standards to undertaking valuation which practitioners would find in a well-documented “Nigerian Valuation Standards otherwise known as the Green Book used by estate surveyors and valuers and which unarguably has enhanced the quality of valuation services in Nigeria.
According to him, efforts would be made to get other countries to adopt the initiative.
Besides, he said the institution also intended to re-awaken public awareness on the importance and benefits of valuation, its wealth creation capability and the need to always engage the legally recognized providers of the important service, which is the estate surveyors and valuers.
“As estate surveyors and valuers, we shall be deliberate in our efforts to update our skills and competencies and ensure they align with global standards. “That is the only way we would remain impactful and keep creating wealth through valuation,” he said.
On benefits of valuation in national development, a Lagos based estate surveying and valuation practitioner, Mr Femi Oyedele, said the purpose of a valuation exercise was to track the effectiveness of one’s strategic decision-making process and provide the ability to track performance in terms of estimated change in value of an asset, not just in revenue.
According to him, valuation helps to determine the true worth or price of an asset.
He said: “It is used in the determination of the worth of company’s shares, essential in merger and acquisition of companies. It is a means of unlocking wealth.
“Valuation for insurance purposes is essential as a business continuity strategy.
“In annual reports of companies, valuation is useful for determination of the value of the assets of the companies including lands and buildings. The prices of government bonds are fixed through valuation. It is used in taxation of properties and for mortgage purposes when applying for loans.
“Valuation should not be a once-in-a-while exercise in the life of individuals, companies and states who have assets and liabilities. It should be a regular exercise to determine which assets to keep and which to offload due to their economic performances. It is the basis of compulsory acquisition of properties by governments,” Oyedele said.
He described the valuation day as “a unique platform” for accessing the latest trends and technologies in valuation, understanding new valuation standards and methodologies and approaches to valuation to meet market expectations.
He noted that awareness on the need for valuation, the purpose and process was still low in Africa.
“This is why the valuers deemed it necessary to set one day free every year for the celebration of valuation exercise,” he said.
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