Daily Independent Online.
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Wednesday, July 14, 2004.
FCT’s revocation of C of Os
Abuja’s propertied class awakened
to a grim reality, the sudden dispossession of titles to their estates, after
authorities of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) peremptorily revoked all
Certificates of Occupancy (C of Os) with effect from July 5. Affected by the
pronouncement are over 230,000 certificates issued by successive
administrations of the FCT from 1976, the earliest phase of the development of
the new Federal capital, to the second quarter of this year. The FCT Administration,
citing a directive from The Presidency to back up its action, claimed that
irregularities had been uncovered in allocation exercises and that a thorough
verification exercise had become imperative to establish the genuineness of
certificates.
In a clarification a day later, the authorities said
the “withdrawal of all certificates, evidencing titles,” is
“to enable the Ministry (of the FCT) to re-issue new Certificates of
Occupancy, which will be difficult to forge.” Land records, the release
from the FCT revealed, have just been computerised, and the planned re-issuance
is a step toward ensuring foolproof security for title deeds to all lands
allocated by the Ministry. To qualify for re-issuance, certificate holders are
be required to show evidence of payment of sundry fees, levies, penalties and
bills, and that the land and buildings concerned “must be free of any
land violations, and/or service and utility line violations.”
For a populace that has witnessed the spiritedness of
the current leadership of the FCT Ministry in the demolition of over 400 houses
and other unspecified structures in the past six months, the recent revocations
are bound to be exceedingly unsettling. Abuja residents knew that among the
victims of the demolition exercise were property owners whose title documents
were impeccable and whose landed estates were hardly on any significant service
or utility line to warrant levelling. Such citizens were unconvinced about the
sincerity of the FCT authorities, especially as no official of the Federal
Capital Development Authority (FCDA) is known to have been punished for sharp
practices in the allocation of plots. The misgivings just cannot be wished
away, and no one should under-estimate the possible impact of the July 5 initiative
on the emotional stability of most of those affected.
As expected of a body with profound social
consciousness, the Abuja chapter of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has
denounced the FCT’s action, insisting that neither the Land Use Act of
1998 nor any known law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria confers the power on
anyone to withdraw simultaneously all C of Os legally procured. But legalities
aside, even the layman cannot but question the propriety of divesting all
property owners in the nation’s capital of their claims to ownership. If
the FCT’s release of July 6 is anything to go by, their landed estates
will remain ownerless for as long as nine months or even longer. More
saddening, still, is the fact that the purported scrutiny is all bound up with
how the FCT Ministry, dominated by party men of unrefined biases, chooses to
interpret the various criteria it has outlined for re-issuance.
We call on the FCT authorities to rescind their
decision and revalidate all C of Os issued in accordance with relevant
statutes. The sort of idealism that drives the FCT in the current undertaking,
and in fact, in the recent demolition exercise, is clearly self-destructive,
and should not be encouraged. It is unimaginable that in any era outside of the
Dark Ages, when kings enjoyed limitless powers, an authority of whatever
description would seek to indulge its fancies by peremptorily voiding all title
documents held by citizens. In the present case, Nigerians need to appreciate
the challenge to develop civil culture, to be able to organise themselves to
challenge oppressive tendencies of men in power. For the FCT Minister, Mallam
Nasir el-Rufai, it should bear restatement that the large-scale destabilisation
of organisations, individuals and their families, under the guise of rectifying
identified anomalies, is not a plausible route to social acclaim. If he thinks
so highly of his personal wisdom, then let him realise that the World
Bank’s recent condemnation of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) that
he headed is enough reminder that he is as fallible as any other privileged
public office holder that has failed this nation.
