…Wike had sanctioned the nullification of applications that failed official genuineness checks and were found to be fake.
ABUJA, NIGERIA- The iNews Times | Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, has approved the cancellation of 485 land documents in Abuja for failing to satisfy official verification requirements.
The affected documents were voided after a detailed audit by the Department of Land Administration in partnership with the Abuja Geographic Information Systems (AGIS). Authorities said many of the documents did not pass authenticity screening and were confirmed to be forged.
In a public notice issued on Monday and tagged Batch I, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) announced that the invalid applications had been expunged from the regularisation database. The notice specifically targeted applicants who had submitted Area Council land documents for validation.
It stated that Wike had sanctioned the nullification of applications that failed official genuineness checks and were found to be fake.
The cancelled titles cut across several Area Councils and layouts. In Bwari Area Council, affected areas include Ushafa Village Expansion Scheme, Ushafa Extension and Dawaki Extension 1.
Within Abuja Municipal Area Council, the impacted districts are Kurudu-Jikwoyi Relocation, Kurudu Commercial, Karu Village Extension, Nyanya Phase IV Extension, Jikwoyi Residential, Sabon Lugbe and Lugbe I Extension.
Kuchiyako One layout in Kuje Area Council was also listed among the affected locations.
Among those impacted are the Redeemed Christian Church of God and the Ministry of Justice Staff Multi-purpose Cooperative Society, among others.
Under Nigerian law, ownership of all land in the FCT is vested in the Federal Government, while Certificates of Occupancy and other land titles must be processed through the office of the FCT Minister and formalised by AGIS.
The development is part of ongoing land administration reforms by the FCTA aimed at tackling persistent issues such as forged documents, double allocations and irregular grants allegedly issued by some Area Councils.
The cancellations are also part of a wider regularisation exercise that has been ongoing for months.
The reform efforts gained momentum last year when the FCTA revealed that only 8,287 out of 261,914 Area Council land documents submitted between 2006 and 2023 had been reviewed.
The screened documents accounted for just 3.2 per cent of total submissions, leaving 253,627 still pending in the system.
Officials of the Federal Capital Development Authority acknowledged the slow pace of progress, noting that 96.8 per cent of the submissions were yet to receive clearance.
