….Introduces new reforms in Area Council allocations, Mass Housing

….Only 2 of 445 mass housing allocations met requirements since Year 2000

By Omeiza Ajayi

ABUJA: Federal Capital Territory FCT minister, Nyesom Wike on Friday announced some sweeping land reforms, including a new rule which seeks to revoke undeveloped plots after two years of issuance of Rights of Occupancy.

Director, Land Administration in the FCTA, Chijioke Nwankwoeze and Senior Special Assistant to the Minister on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, disclosed this at a news conference in Abuja.

According to them, the reforms, which will become operational from April 21, 2025, cover specific areas like conditions of grant of Statutory Right of Occupancy, contents of the Statutory Right of Occupancy Bill, contents of Letter of Acceptance/Refusal of offer of grant of Right of Occupancy, titling of Mass Housing and sectional interests, as well as regularization of Area Council Land documents.

The director noted that before now, deadline for payment of bills, rents, fees and charges was not specified in the Statutory Right of Occupancy bill, and there was no penalty for failure to make payment promptly.

“This has caused delay in revenue receivable due to non-collection of Right of Occupancy (R-of-O) and non-payment of bills, slower pace of infrastructural development, sustained land speculation and racketeering while huge expenses have been incurred by the FCT Administration through repeated advertisements and publications notifying the public on the need for collection of R-of-O and timely payment of bills and charges.

“Consequently, as against the unspecified period within which to collect the Right of Occupancy (R-of-O) and make full payment of the Statutory Right of Occupancy bills and charges, land allottees now have 21 days from the date of offer, to make full payment of all bills, fees, rents and charges prescribed on offers of Statutory Rights of Occupancy and submit a duly completed Letter of acceptance alongside evidence of payments, or lose the offer.

“Also, as against the lengthy period within which to develop allocated lands, the period within which to erect and complete developments on any land granted in the FCT is now two years from the date of the commencement of the R-of-O.

“Therefore, any R-of-O bills and any other payments made outside the stipulated 21 days shall be considered invalid while any land granted should be developed within two years”, he stated.

On lands previously allocated by Area Councils, Nwankwoeze said the law stipulates that all lands in the FCT are urban land.

He said it therefore becomes necessary that all land documents issued by the Area Councils are considered for regularization 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.

“However, to date, out of the 261,914 Area Council land documents submitted for regularization, only 8,287 have been vetted, out of which only 2,358 were cleared, validated and regularized to statutory titles. The 8,287 were vetted from 2006 to 2023 (17 years), and this represents just 3.2% of the total land documents submitted for vetting and regularization as at today, the FCT Administration is still left with 253,627 submissions in its database.

“Area Council land documents successfully vetted and confirmed would have statutory titles on such lands issued and the allottees will have sixty days to make full payments of all bills, fees, rents and charges prescribed, failure of which the offers shall become invalid.

“On Mass Housing, it should be noted that the Mass Housing Programme was initiated in year 2000 to utilize the Public Private Partnership (PPP) strategy with the objective of providing affordable housing for the residents of FCT.

“However, from the inception of the Mass Housing programme in 2000 till date, out of the 445 Mass Housing allocations granted, only two developers have successfully met the terms and conditions.

“A new operational framework for titling of Mass Housing and Sectional Interests has been developed to fast-track the exercise efficiently, effectively and diligently, in line with the Minister’s vision to restore confidence in the administration of lands in the FCT.

“Currently, the holders/occupiers of properties within the various Mass Housing Estates in the FCT do not pay bills, rents, fees and charges to the government despite having held and occupied the properties for decades.

“In recognition of the urgent need to issue titles to the beneficiaries of Mass Housing and Sectional Interests, all applications for titling are to be made by the Subscribers/Developers to the Department of land Administration for processing.

“Processing of titles for Mass Housing and Sectional Interests shall commence on April 21, 2025, in line with the new operational framework”, he added.