Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, announced during a meeting with estate developers in Abuja on Tuesday that the FCT Administration has set the issuance cost for a Certificate of Occupancy (C-of-O) at N5 million.
Wike clarified that this payment could be settled within four months of land allocation, following which the C-of-O would be handed over to the applicant.
Furthermore, he expressed his intention to seek President Bola Tinubu’s approval to integrate applicants’ national identification numbers (NIN) with C-of-Os before their issuance.
Emphasizing a commitment to transparency and efficiency, Wike asserted that the era of multiple individuals receiving the same plot of land with counterfeit C-of-Os has come to an end.
“Allocation of land to three or more persons will no longer be allowed because the C-of-O enables you to do business.
“When we make the right decision, some people will be happy, and some will not. The rich will kick against some of our decisions, but anything that will help our people must be done,’’ Wike said.
He promised to ensure orderliness and sanity in the land administration system and processes in the FCT.
Wike inaugurated a task force on the issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) for housing estates and the recovery of land use contravention fees on Nov. 14.
He explained that the measure was to ensure that each unit in the housing estates had its separate C-of-O.
