FCTA Issues 26,272 Certificates of Occupancy in 3 Years, Tripling Previous Output

The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has dramatically accelerated the issuance of Certificates of Occupancy (C-of-O), granting 26,272 such documents in the three years since President Bola Tinubu took office. This output dwarfs the combined total of 8,697 C-of-Os issued over the preceding 13 years, spanning the administrations of Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari.

Under President Jonathan's five-and-a-half-year tenure, 5,500 C-of-Os were issued, while President Buhari's eight years saw 3,197. The current administration's surge in approvals addresses a significant inherited backlog. Many of the 26,272 beneficiaries had waited over a decade for their paperwork, a delay attributed to systemic inefficiencies that discouraged timely payments due to uncertain document delivery.

Lere Olayinka, Senior Special Assistant to the FCT Minister on Public Communications and Social Media, highlighted the administration's success in fixing these bottlenecks. "The moment necessary payments are made, land allottees can now get their C-of-O within two weeks," Olayinka stated. An automated notification system now alerts allottees when their documents are ready, replacing the previous informal chase for updates.

The impact extends beyond mere paperwork. A C-of-O is crucial collateral for banks and financial institutions. Its absence has long hindered small and medium businesses in the territory from accessing loans, mortgages, and expansion capital. The FCTA also reported issuing 2,521 Consents to Assign (for property sales or loan transfers) and 177 Consents to Mortgage in the last three years, compared to significantly lower numbers under previous administrations.

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The moment necessary payments are made, land allottees can now get their C-of-O within two weeks