Wike signs record 26,272 C-of-Os, beats Jonathan and Buhari era records
By Aboki Forex —
FCT Minister Nyesom Wike has signed 26,272 Certificates of Occupancy since May 2023, more than the combined total produced under the two previous administrations. The figure was announced in a Sunday statement by Lere Olayinka, the minister's Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media.
Olayinka said the development aligns with President Bola Tinubu's Renewed Hope Agenda and is aimed at easing doing business in Abuja.
Comparison with past administrations
According to the statement, only 8,697 C-of-Os were produced and signed between 2010 and 2023. That period covered the five-and-a-half-year administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, which produced 5,500 C-of-Os, and the eight-year administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, which produced 3,197.
Olayinka said many of the beneficiaries of the 26,272 C-of-Os under Wike received their land allocations more than 10 years ago.
Faster processing, automated alerts
The FCT Administration has streamlined the process so that land allottees can get their C-of-O within two weeks of completing payment.
“The moment necessary payments are made, land allottees can now get their C-of-O within two weeks,” Olayinka said. “Also, an automated notification system has been introduced to ensure that land allottees are informed when their documents are ready for collection.”
He alleged that inefficiencies under previous administrations discouraged landowners from completing payments.
Consents to Assign and Mortgage
Beyond C-of-Os, the FCT Administration under Wike has granted 2,521 Consents to Assign and 177 Consents to Mortgage in the last three years of President Tinubu's administration.
This compares with 753 Consents to Assign and 180 Consents to Mortgage under Jonathan, and 684 Consents to Assign and 164 Consents to Mortgage under Buhari.
A Consent to Assign is required when selling a property or transferring an interest in a property. A Consent to Mortgage is official approval needed before a property can be used as collateral for a loan.
Fee reduction and next steps
In 2025, Wike announced a reduction in the C-of-O fee for plots of land in Abuja from N5 million to N3.5 million. The cut followed objections from stakeholders to the initial N5 million flat rate, which applied to all land sizes regardless of location.
The N3.5 million fee applies only to new certificates, not re-certification.
Wike had earlier said payment could be made within four months of land allocation, after which the C-of-O would be handed over. He also said he would seek President Tinubu's approval to link applicants' National Identification Numbers to C-of-Os before issuance, and that the era of multiple allocations of the same plot with fake C-of-Os was over.
For Nigerian businesses and property owners, the faster documentation process and lower fees could reduce the cost and delay often associated with land transactions in the FCT, a hotspot for real estate development.