For over a decade, getting a Certificate of Occupancy in the Federal Capital Territory meant waiting years, chasing files, and watching business opportunities slip away. In just two years under President Bola Tinubu, the FCT Administration says it has signed more C-of-Os than the previous 13 years combined. The goal is simple: turn land into capital, and bureaucracy into business, writes Our Managing Editor, Ekuson Nw’Ogbunka. Excerpts.
The Federal Capital Territory Administration has announced a record push in land documentation, producing and signing 26,272 Certificates of Occupancy since President Bola Tinubu assumed office in 2023.
According to the FCT, the figure represents 17,575 more certificates than the 8,697 processed and signed between 2010 and 2023, covering the last two administrations.
The announcement was made yesterday by Lere Olayinka, Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media to the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike.
Olayinka said all 26,272 certificates were signed by Minister Wike since he assumed office, describing it as part of a deliberate effort to improve ease of doing business in the nation’s capital.
The administration broke down the historical numbers for context. During the five-and-a-half-year tenure of former President Goodluck Jonathan, 5,500 C-of-Os were produced and signed.
During the eight-year tenure of the late former President Muhammadu Buhari, 3,197 were produced and signed. Together, the two administrations averaged fewer than 700 certificates per year.
Many of those now receiving titles under the present administration, Olayinka revealed, had been allocated land more than a decade ago but were trapped by administrative delays.
The reason the numbers matter goes beyond paperwork. In Nigeria’s financial system, a Certificate of Occupancy is what converts land from possession to asset.
“The issuance of C-of-O is important to economic activity because the document can serve as collateral for commercial loans, mortgages and business expansion capital,” Olayinka explained.
For years, delays in obtaining the document remained a major pain point for property owners, real estate developers, and small and medium-sized businesses.
Without proper title documents, many businesses could not access bank financing, stalling construction, expansion and investment across the FCT.
To change that, the FCT Administration says it has streamlined the process. The new benchmark: two weeks from payment to collection.
“The moment necessary payments are made, land allottees can now get their C-of-O within two weeks,” Olayinka said.
The administration has also introduced an automated notification system to alert allottees when their documents are ready, cutting out the era of endless visits to the Land Department.
Olayinka attributed past delays to administrative inefficiencies that discouraged landowners from completing payments and obtaining documentation, ultimately slowing down revenue generation for government.
The reforms extend beyond Certificates of Occupancy. The FCT also reported a surge in the processing of other property-related instruments.
In the first three years of the Tinubu administration, 2,521 Consents to Assign and 177 Consents to Mortgage were granted. A Consent to Assign approves the transfer of interest in a property, while a Consent to Mortgage allows it to be used as loan security.
By comparison, the Jonathan administration recorded 753 Consents to Assign and 180 Consents to Mortgage, while the Buhari administration recorded 684 Consents to Assign and 164 Consents to Mortgage. The FCT said the reforms are aimed at reducing bureaucratic bottlenecks, strengthening property documentation, and unlocking the economic value of land in line with the Federal Government’s broader agenda to promote ease of doing business and stimulate private-sector investment in the capital.
