Wike: FCT Signs 26,272 C-of-Os Under Tinubu

“The moment necessary payments are made, land allottees can now get their C-of-O within two weeks,”

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Administration has signed 26,272 Certificates of Occupancy (C-of-O) since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu assumed office, the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, has said.

The figure represents an increase of 17,575 over the 8,697 Certificates of Occupancy produced and signed between 2010 and 2023.

According to a statement issued on Sunday by Lere Olayinka, Senior Special Assistant to the FCT Minister on Public Communications and Social Media, 5,500 C-of-Os were produced and signed during the five-and-a-half-year administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, while 3,197 were issued during the eight-year tenure of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

Olayinka said many beneficiaries of the 26,272 certificates issued under the Tinubu administration had received their land allocations more than a decade ago.

He explained that the issuance of C-of-Os was critical to businesses because the documents could be used as collateral for commercial loans, mortgages and business expansion.

He said the inability of property owners to obtain C-of-Os when required had limited access to funding, particularly for small and medium-sized businesses.

According to him, the FCT Administration has streamlined the process, enabling land allottees to obtain their certificates within two weeks after completing the necessary payments.

“The moment necessary payments are made, land allottees can now get their C-of-O within two weeks,” he said.

Olayinka added that an automated notification system had also been introduced to alert land allottees when their documents were ready for collection.

He attributed previous delays to administrative inefficiencies, which he said discouraged some landowners from completing their payments.

The statement further disclosed that the FCT Administration granted 2,521 Consents to Assign and 177 Consents to Mortgage during the first three years of the Tinubu administration.

By comparison, the Jonathan administration granted 753 Consents to Assign and 180 Consents to Mortgage, while the Buhari administration granted 684 and 164 respectively.

A Consent to Assign is a legal approval required for the transfer of an interest in a property, while a Consent to Mortgage is the official approval required before a property can be used as collateral for a loan.