The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, says the FCT Administration will stick to a flat rate of N5 million as the fee for issuance of Certificate of Occupancy (C- of-O) for all sizes of plots of land in the capital city.
Mr Wike disclosed this at a meeting with the Estate Developers and Residents’ Associations in Abuja on Tuesday, according to a statement by the minister’s Director of Press, Anthony Ogunleye.
According to the statement released on Tuesday, the minister rebuffed the suggestion by some residents to review the N5-million-flat-rate regime to be sensitive to the sizes of the plots of land for which the C-of-Os are sought.
Responding, the minister insisted that a C-of-O is “a business and security document which is not necessarily graded according to the size of the property or its location.”
He maintained “that a flat rate of N5 million must be paid for its collection,” but hinted “at the possibility of a review of this sum,” the statement said.
Mr Wike said payment could be made within four months of land allocation after which the C-of-O would be handed over to the applicant.
He added that he would seek the approval of President Bola Tinubu to link applicants’ National Identification Number to C-of-Os before issuance.
Mr Wike said the era when three or more persons were allocated the same plot of land with fake C-of-O was over.
“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 be. The rich will kick against some of our decisions, but anything that will help our people must be done,’’ Mr Wike said.
He promised to ensure orderliness and sanity in the land administration system and processes in the FCT.
Mr Wike lamented that the issuance of C-of-O in the FCT was enmeshed in a lot of controversy which sometimes led to crises.
He said, “One of the reasons I have stopped signing is because I don’t trust those C-of-Os they are bringing for me to sign. I don’t want to sign a C-of-O that has been given to another person.”
The minister expressed worries that workers’ salaries at the FCT Administration and the Federal Capital Development Authority gulp N8.9 billion monthly.
Mr Wike said he had saved N110 billion for the FCT barely three months into office and assured that the funds would be attached to specific projects.
He said he inaugurated a taskforce on the issuance of Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) for housing estates and the recovery of land use contravention fees on 14 November.
He explained that the measure was to ensure that each unit in the housing estates had its separate C-of-O.
