Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, has announced sweeping reforms in land administration across the FCT, set to take effect from April 21.
Wike, who disclosed this on Friday in Abuja while briefing journalists, announced new measures including the regularisation of Area Council land allocations, direct issuance of titles to mass housing buyers, and the enforcement of a strict two-year deadline for the development of allocated plots.”
Represented by Chijioke Nwankwoeze, Director of Land Administration at the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), he explained that the changes focus on key areas, including the conditions for granting Statutory Rights of Occupancy, provisions of the Statutory Right of Occupancy Bill, the contents of the Letter of Acceptance or Refusal of Offer, titling for mass housing and sectional interests, and the regularisation of land documents within the Area Councils.
According to him, “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, CON, has approved for implementation.
He said the changes cover key aspects such as the conditions for granting Statutory Rights of Occupancy, the provisions outlined in the Statutory Right of Occupancy Bill, and the content of the Letter of Acceptance or Refusal of Offer.
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“They also include guidelines for titling mass housing and sectional interests, as well as the regularisation of land documents within the Area Councils.
“Previously, the Statutory Right of Occupancy bill did not specify a deadline for the payment of bills, rents, fees, and charges, nor did it impose penalties for late payment. This lack of clarity contributed to delays in revenue collection, non-collection of Rights of Occupancy (R-of-O), and the slow pace of infrastructural development.
It also encouraged land speculation and racketeering, while the FCT Administration incurred significant expenses on repeated advertisements and public notices urging the public to collect their R-of-Os and pay outstanding charges.
The minister urged land allottees are required to make full payment of all prescribed bills, fees, rents, and charges within 21 days from the date of offer. They must also submit a completed Letter of Acceptance along with proof of payment within this period or risk forfeiting the offer.
Additionally, the timeframe for developing allocated land has been shortened. Beneficiaries are now required to commence and complete development on any granted land within two years from the effective date of the R-of-O. Payments made after the 21-day deadline will be considered invalid, and any undeveloped land after the two-year period may be subject to revocation.
“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.
As of today, only 8,287 of the 261,914 Area Council land documents submitted for regularization have been vetted, with 2,358 successfully cleared, validated, and regularized into statutory titles.
These 8,287 documents were vetted over a 17-year period, from 2006 to 2023, representing just 3.2% of the total submissions. The FCT Administration still has 253,627 submissions pending in its database.
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For land documents that are successfully vetted and confirmed, statutory titles will be issued, and allottees will have 60 days to pay all applicable fees, rents, and charges. Failure to do so will result in the invalidation of their offers.
Regarding the Mass Housing Programme, which was launched in 2000 to provide affordable housing through a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model, only two developers have successfully met the terms and conditions of 445 Mass Housing allocations.
He sanew operational framework has been developed to fast-track the titling process for Mass Housing and Sectional Interests, in alignment with the Minister’s vision to restore confidence in the FCT’s land administration. Currently, occupiers of properties within various Mass Housing Estates in the FCT have not been paying any bills, rents, fees, or charges, despite having held these properties for decades.
To address this, all titling applications from Subscribers/Developers for Mass Housing and Sectional Interests will be processed by the Department of Land Administration. The processing of these titles will begin on April 21, 2025, under the new framework.”
