The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Administration has signed 26,272 Certificates of Occupancy (C-of-O) since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu assumed office, according to the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike.

The figure is 17,575 higher than the 8,697 Certificates of Occupancy produced and signed between 2010 and 2023.

According to a statement issued on Sunday by Lere Olayinka, Senior Special Assistant to the FCT Minister on Public Communications and Social Media, 5,500 Certificates of Occupancy were produced and signed during the five-and-a-half-year administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, while 3,197 were produced and signed during the eight-year administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

Olayinka said many of the beneficiaries of the 26,272 Certificates of Occupancy issued under the current administration had received their land allocations more than 10 years ago.

He said the issuance of Certificates of Occupancy was important to businesses because the documents could serve as collateral for commercial loans, mortgages and business expansion.

According to him, the inability of property owners to obtain Certificates of Occupancy when needed had been one of the challenges facing small and medium-sized businesses, as it restricted their access to funding.

Olayinka said the FCT Administration had streamlined the process, allowing land allottees to receive their Certificates of Occupancy within two weeks of completing the necessary payments.

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

“Also, an automated notification has been introduced to ensure that land allottees are informed when their documents are ready for collection,” he said.

He attributed delays in the past to inefficiencies that discouraged some landowners from completing their payments.

The statement also said the FCT Administration had granted 2,521 Consents to Assign and 177 Consents to Mortgage during the first three years of President Tinubu’s administration.

This compares with 753 Consents to Assign and 180 Consents to Mortgage granted during the Jonathan administration, as well as 684 Consents to Assign and 164 Consents to Mortgage granted during the Buhari administration.

A Consent to Assign is a legal approval required for the transfer of an interest in a property, while a Consent to Mortgage is an official approval required before a property can be used as collateral for a loan.