FCTA to Begin Land Regularisation Exercise
The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has announced the start of a major land regularisation exercise to address long-standing issues with land ownership documents in the FCT area councils.
From 2006 to 2023, residents submitted 261,914 land documents for screening and regularisation. However, only 8,287 of those documents—just 3.2%—have been screened so far.
This was revealed by Mr. Lere Olayinka, the Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media to the FCT Minister, during a press briefing in Abuja.
Olayinka said there are still 253,627 unprocessed land documents sitting in the system. To solve this, the FCTA is launching new reforms, approved by the FCT Minister, Mr. Nyesom Wike, which will take effect from April 21.
These reforms aim to:
- Grant Statutory Right of Occupancy (R of O)
- Process Letters of Offer, Acceptance, or Refusal
- Give proper titles to mass housing and sectional properties
- Regularise land documents issued by area councils
The FCTA also announced that land allottees will be required to develop their land within two years of allocation. Those whose documents have been vetted must pay all required fees within 60 days, or their offer will become invalid.
Out of the 8,287 documents screened, only 2,358 have been fully validated and given statutory titles. The rest are still undergoing verification.
The Director of Land Administration, Mr. Chijioke Nwankwoeze, said the reforms are designed to give landowners peace of mind and ensure they receive legal titles for their properties.
“We are confident that with the new process, we can clear the remaining backlog within two years,” Nwankwoeze said. “This is a step towards making sure residents enjoy full ownership rights and security over their lands.”
