By Olamide Francis
The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) said it has received 8,744 fresh land applications this year, Nature News gathered.
This information was disclosed by the FCT Director of Land Administration, Adamu Hussaini, to journalists at the weekend, saying that 5,513 applications are for private residential while 1, 828 are for commercial purposes. Another 1,400 were in the city centre.
He explained that during the same period, the administration successfully conveyed 603 Certificates of Occupancy (CofO) to titleholders, out of this number, 299 CofO are meant for sales of Federal government houses while 304 for other properties in the city.
The Director, however, said, ‘’The FCT administration intends to change the narrative by assiduously to double the conveyance of Certificates of Occupancy to titleholders to ensure that the status grantors of land in the FCT and individual beneficiaries of mass housing will be bankable, marketable titles towards encouraging investment in the FCT.”
The administration has equally received 4,154 applications for the conduct of legal search to ascertain the veracity or status of such title documents. These requests comprise 2,635 for residential applicants and 1,519 for commercial plots.
The FCT administration plans to launch a ground rent portal that will enable customers to download bills and make online payments to facilitate quick receipt of statements of accounts.
The FCT Director, Abuja Geographic Information Systems (AGIS), Dr. Isa Ibrahim Jalo, made this revelation during a press conference.
Dr. Jalo further revealed that the new platform is expected to integrate with REMITA in line with the implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy and the Ease of Doing Business strategy of the Federal Government, given the prevalence of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Director disclosed that the administration has upgraded the AGIS Geospatial Data Centre to a World Class standard now referred to as Tier 3 to provide the shared infrastructure required for the development of the Abuja Smart City.