Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federl Capital Territory, FCT had on Friday, November 24, ordered existing landowners with Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) to pay at least N50,000 for recertification.
The minister had given the order while interacting with news men in Abuja.
Wike, in the televised program, had remarked that issuance of C of O in the territory would need a National Identification Number, NIN, or Bank Verification Number, BVN, going forward.
According to the Wike, the recertification of the C of Os would cost about 50,000 Naira for individuals and 100,000 Naira for corporate bodies.
In Wike’s words:
“Those who already have a C-of-O before don’t need to pay money again – the highest they can pay is N50,000, and corporate bodies will pay N100,000. This payment helps in terms of security as well as improving revenue generation.”
The minister also lamented that there were a lot of disparity and forgery of C-of-Os in the FCT, stating that his administration had “come up with an idea that every allottee who sought for and applied for a C-of-O had to provide his/her NIN”.
