…Approves Land Reforms To Accelerate Development In FCT
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has approved a comprehensive reform of land administration processes within the FCT, with implementation scheduled to begin on April 21, 2025.
This was disclosed on Friday during a press briefing in Abuja by the Director of Land Administration in the FCT Administration (FCTA), Chijioke Nwankwoeze, who said the reforms are targeted at improving efficiency, revenue generation, and transparency in the territory’s land management system.
According to Nwankwoeze, the reforms cut across several key areas, including the conditions for granting Statutory Rights of Occupancy (R-of-O), the structure and content of R-of-O bills, procedures for acceptance or refusal of land offers, titling of mass housing and sectional interests, as well as regularisation of Area Council land documents.
Also, land recipients now have a maximum of two years from the commencement of the R-of-O to develop their property. Payments or development efforts made outside these timelines will render the offers invalid.
Nwankwoeze said, “As against the lengthy period within which to develop allocated lands, the period within which to erect and complete developments on any land granted in the FCT is now two years from the date of the commencement of the R-of-O.
“Therefore, any R-of-O bills and any other payments made outside the stipulated 21 days shall be considered invalid, while any land granted should be developed within two years.
“On lands previously allocated by area councils, the law stipulates that all lands in the FCT are urban land. It therefore becomes necessary that all land documents issued by the Area Councils are considered for regularisation to statutory titles in line with relevant statutes.
“It should be noted that in 2006, the Zonal Land, Planning and Survey offices of the six Area Councils were directed to submit all Area Council allocation lists, layouts, files and registers to Abuja Geographic Information System (AGIS)/Lands Department, and this was done by the Area Councils.”
On the regularisation of land documents issued by Area Councils, Nwankwoeze noted that although over 261,000 documents were submitted to the Abuja Geographic Information System (AGIS) and the Lands Department since 2006, only 8,287 have been vetted, with just 2,358 validated and converted to statutory titles. The reforms are expected to fast-track the vetting of the remaining 253,627 submissions.
Nwankwoeze said, “We are here to intimate you of the broad and comprehensive reforms on land administration in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) that the minister, Barrister Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, has approved for implementation.
“These reforms, which will become operational from April 21, 2025, cover specific areas like conditions of grant of Statutory Right of Occupancy, contents of the Statutory Right of Occupancy Bill, contents of Letter of Acceptance/Refusal of offer of grant of Right of Occupancy, titling of Mass Housing and sectional interests, as well as regularisation of Area Council Land documents.
“It should be noted that before now, the deadline for payment of bills, rents, fees and charges was not specified in the Statutory Right of Occupancy bill, and no penalty for failure to make payment promptly.
“This has caused a delay in revenue receivable due to the non-collection of Right of Occupancy (R-of-O) and non-payment of bills, a slower pace of infrastructural development, sustained land speculation and racketeering, while huge expenses have been incurred by the FCT Administration through repeated advertisements and publications notifying the public of the need for the collection of R-of-O and timely payment of bills and charges.”
He noted that a significant change introduced is the imposition of a 21-day deadline for land allottees to make full payment of all bills, fees, rents, and charges associated with an R-of-O offer. Allottees must also submit a duly completed letter of acceptance with proof of payment within the same period or risk losing the allocation.
For mass housing developments, the director revealed that out of 445 allocations made under the programme since 2000, only two developers have met all conditions for titling. He said to address this, a new operational framework has been introduced to expedite titling for both developers and property holders under the scheme.
“Currently, most property holders in Mass Housing Estates do not remit any fees to the government despite occupying these properties for years. This reform mandates subscribers and developers to apply for titles to their properties, beginning April 21,” Nwankwoeze said.
He added that the move aligns with Minister Wike’s vision to restore public confidence in land administration and ensure equitable and lawful access to land resources in the territory.
The FCTA assured the public of its commitment to a transparent and efficient implementation of the reforms, urging stakeholders to comply with the new procedures.
Wike Sets Two-Year Timeline For Completion Of Projects On Undeveloped Plots is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
Source: The Whistler
