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Abuja re-certification nets
N1b despite apathy
By Don
Bassey
Correspondent, Abuja
Only 3,355 applications for
re-certification of certificates of occupancy (C-of-O) have been received
by the Abuja Geographic Information System (AGIS) five months after it opened shop.
0f these, 200 applicants have
been issued with new C-of-O and about 500 have been cleared and are
awaiting delivery from the AGIS issuing office.
However, this number is 7,141
short of the 10,496 expected after FCT Minister Nasir el-Rufai withdrew in
July all C-of-O issued in the history of the territory. The withdrawal
followed allegations of forgery of land title deeds contained in a report
by a committee set up to computerise land and cadastral registry. The
exercise ends in April 30, 2005.
Despite the poor response,
AGIS Administrator Altine
Jibrin and Project Manager Ismail Iro said the project has generated
revenue in excess of N1 billion, mostly from payment of application fees
as well as accrued ground rents, power of attorney, transfer of deed,
assignment and other charges.
Approximately N74.62 million
($533,000) of the total money realised is in foreign currency.
The AGIS team said the
exercise is facing stiff opposition from �people that were benefiting from
the former disorganised system� who scare title holders away with rumours
that millions of naira is required to get a new C-of-O.
But �this is far from the
truth; the N10,000 processing fee in the only new payment in the process.
This exercise is supposed to be completed within the period of nine
months. From what we have on the ground, we are honestly behind schedule
statistically�, Jibrin told newsmen in Abuja. She disclosed that the AGIS
has handed five men (all lawyers) to the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) for filing forged land documents.
�The lawyers are not guilty
themselves but they will help the EFCC trace those who lodged the forged
documents with the banks�. The FCT Ministry received 105,701 applications
for land as of April, out of which 21,420 plots were allocated and 10,496
were issued C-of-O by previous administrations.
A total 7, 837 had Rights of
Occupancy (R-of-O) while 80 percent of the plots allocated were left
undeveloped.
After the computerisation
exercise, the committee uncovered 817 cases of multiple allocations, 2,149
multiple plot numbers and that 119 applications had multiple file numbers.
The irregularities led the present administration to revoke 634
allocations.
El-Rufai has warned plot
owners yet to return their old title deeds to do so before April 30 next
year, failing which the plots and the structures on them would revert to
the government.
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