The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Barrister Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, has established a Task Force to address the issuing of Certificates of Occupancy for large-scale housing complexes and the collection of land use violation costs in the FCT.
The task force was formed on Tuesday and has one month to complete the task. The Executive Secretary of FCDA will act as its secretary, while Estate Surveyor Michael O. Chinda, Senior Special Assistant to the FCT Minister on Lands and Urban and Regional Planning, will preside.
Other members of the Task Force are the Director, Department of Land, Director AGIS, Director, Department of Development Control, Director Department of Mass Housing, Director, Department of Urban and Regional Planning and Director, Department of Surveying and Mapping.
The FCT Minister asserts that the Task Force was established to make sure that all of the homes in the FCT’s Mass Housing Estates have Certificates of Occupancy (C of O), which the allottees are responsible for payment.
He emphasized that in addition to looking for ways to raise money for projects, the FCT also needs to make sure that development is carried out in a way that complies with the law and is controlled.
The Minister also directed the Task Force to make provisions for land allottees in the Area Councils who do not have certificates of occupancy for their plots to enable them to get the land documents. He directed the Committee to advertise what is to be paid to enable them obtain the documents.
frowning at instances where hectares of land are set aside for the construction of mass housing but the developers later decide to sell off the plots, he tasked the Task Force with performing with diligence and said that he would personally oversee its operations.
Speaking on behalf of the task force, the Chairman, ESV Michael Chinda, assured that the Task Team will carry out the assignment with precision, diligence and high level of professionalism.
“We know that a Certificate of Occupancy is a necessary prerequisite for land ownership,” he noted. The government owns the property, and no one is allowed to remain on it forever. The requirement to legitimize your stay should provide relief to Abuja property owners.
ESV Chinda cautioned that the Task Force will not spare anybody who is discovered to have violated land usage in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), pointing out that the distortion of the Abuja masterplan, if permitted, will promote indiscriminate development activities.
