Land Documentation Gets Faster as FCTA Signs 26,272 C-of-Os

By Our Correspondent

The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), under the leadership of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has signed 26,272 Certificates of Occupancy (C-of-Os) since the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu assumed office, surpassing the 8,697 C-of-Os produced and signed between 2010 and 2023.

The Senior Special Assistant to the FCT Minister on Public Communications and Social Media, Mr Lere Olayinka, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, noting that the FCTA had streamlined the process to enable land allottees receive their documents within two weeks of completing the necessary payments.
According to the FCTA, the development is part of efforts to promote ease of doing business in the nation’s capital, in line with President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
The figures indicate that during the five-and-a-half-year administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, 5,500 Certificates of Occupancy were produced and signed, while 3,197 were produced and signed during the eight-year administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Many of the beneficiaries of the 26,272 C-of-Os processed under the current administration reportedly received their land allocations more than 10 years ago.
A Certificate of Occupancy serves as trusted collateral for commercial loans, mortgages and business expansion capital. The inability of property owners to obtain their C-of-Os when needed has been identified as one of the challenges limiting access to funding, particularly for small and medium-sized businesses.
Olayinka said the FCTA had introduced measures to speed up the process.
“The moment necessary payments are made, land allottees can now get their C-of-O within two weeks.
“Also, an automated notification has been introduced to ensure that land allottees are informed when their documents are ready for collection,” he said.
He attributed the delays experienced under previous administrations to inefficiencies in the system, which, according to him, discouraged some landowners from completing their payments.
Beyond the production and signing of 26,272 Certificates of Occupancy, the FCTA under Wike has also granted 2,521 Consents to Assign and 177 Consents to Mortgage during the last three years of the Tinubu administration.
This compares with 753 Consents to Assign and 180 Consents to Mortgage granted under the Jonathan administration, and 684 Consents to Assign and 164 Consents to Mortgage during the eight-year administration of Buhari.
A Consent to Assign is a legal approval required when a property is being transferred or sold, while a Consent to Mortgage is the official approval required before a property can be used as collateral for a loan.
The FCTA said the reforms are aimed at making land administration more efficient, reducing delays and improving access to property documentation for residents and investors in the Federal Capital Territory.