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FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike introduces sweeping reforms in FCT land Administration

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….says, area council land allocations will be regularised, Mass Housing properties will be titled in favour of Buyers, and allottees must develop lands within two Years.

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike has introduced sweeping reforms in FCT land Administration.

According to the Minister, area council land allocations will be regularised, Mass Housing properties will be titled in favour of Buyers, and allottees must develop lands within two Years.

Director, Land Administration FCTA, Chijioke Nwankwoeze, said the land reform will become operational from April 21, 2025.

The statement reads: “We are here to intimate you of the broad and comprehensive reforms on land administration in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), that the Minister, Barrister Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, CON, has approved for implementation.

These 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.

It should be noted that before now, deadline for payment of bills, rents, fees and charges is not specified in the Statutory Right of Occupancy bill, and 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.

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

It therefore becomes necessary that all land documents issued by the Area Councils are considered for regularisation 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 and 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.

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2027: Hurdles Before The Coalition, By Emeka Monye

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The 2027 presidential election in Nigeria is shaping up to be a crucial contest between the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and a potential coalition of opposition parties. Several hurdles need to be overcome for the opposition coalition to succeed.

The political class is already preparing for this quadrennial event, holding consultations, meetings, negotiations, among other contending factors.

The ruling party, The All Progressive Congress, appears to be the most beautiful bride at the moment as members of other opposition parties have been courting the party, in a gale of defections, in what many political pundits and analysts described as a political tsunami.

While the APC seems to be enjoying the foray of defections by other party members into their fold, the main opposition party, The Peoples Democractic Party, PDP, appears to have lost its steam in the run of play.

The once dominant party is plagued by a series of internal crises which many political analysts believe will be the party’s undoings.

The once largest political party in Africa and oldest in Nigeria since it was created in 1998 by some elder statesmen, is now a shadow of itself, living in past glory and trying to win its way back to national prominence.

Already, some past and present leaders of the party have been consulting, negotiating, discussing, even though they have agreed yet, all in a bit to wrestle power from the stronghold of the Bola Tinubu-Led APC at the centre.

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Former Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 General elections, Peter Obi, former Governor of Kaduna state, Nasir El-Rufai, among other bigwigs, are believed to be in talks with one another of how to build a possible coalition to edge the ruling APC in the power game.

Although, no concrete decision has been reached by the major actors, their negotiations and their inability to reach a consensus remain critical factors that might endanger the birth of a viable coalition.

Factors like who will step down for who as the realignment begins, remains a major issue, taking into consideration their individual experiences, exposures, skills, knowledge, capacities and egos.

Except this issue is resolved in the run up to the 2027 presidential polls, it will be a mirage for them to unseat the Tinubu-Led government.

While the running party is busy strategizing ahead of the 2027 presidential polls, the other parties are still grappling with their internal crisis.

Some analysts believe that Atiku’s past experience as Vice President under the regime of Olusegun Obasanjo, might give him an edge, while others think Peter Obi’s popularity in the South could bring a geographical balance to the ticket.

For them to form a strong force against the APC, then, they must find common platform and agree on a candidate, which might be challenging given their different ideologies and interest.

Other factors which some political analysts have highlighted that may pose as a stumbling block agents the coalition is the timing. The time between and 2027 is quite a short time for the coalition to gather and make the desired impact.

This of course, is no brainer. Any merger of alliance must be arranged within a reasonable timeframe to be effective. Also, the coalition will have to convince the Nigerian voting public of its purpose and demonstrate a clear vision for the country’s future, particularly in the area of addressing the economic misfortunes of majority of the people. Another hurdle that would be staring the coalition in the face remains the issue of power rotation.

While the south believe it’s that turn to complete their second term in 2027, the north on the other hand argue that they have been short-changed in the governance structure of the country – in terms of number of years – since the return of democracy in 1999.

Out of the total 26 years, the north has ruled for 11 years, with the south 15 years. The issue remains a key factor that would affect the coalition to birth.

The coalition, must as a matter of urgency, decency decide on this unwritten agreement about rotating power between the North and the South, potentially present a southern for one term to allow the South to complete its own two terms for the office of the president.

In conclusion, the coalition, if it really wants to win power in 2027, must make a compelling case for itself, highlighting its unique strengths and vision, rather than just criticizing the incumbent.

It needs to differentiate itself and show Nigerians that it has a better alternative.

Emeka Monye Is A Journalist And Works With ARISE NEWS.

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Mauritania’s Tah succeeds Adesina as 9th AfDB President

Tah was elected to succeed Adesina after rounds of voting conducted by the AfDB Board of Governors during the Bank’s Annual Meetings held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

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Mauritania’s Sidi Ould Tah has been elected as the ninth president of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) as Nigeria’s Akinwumi Adesina prepares to bow out.

The Bank announced his election on its website on Thursday.

Adesina’s 10-year tenure will end this year and Tah is expected to assume office on September 1, 2025.

Tah was elected to succeed Adesina after rounds of voting conducted by the AfDB Board of Governors during the Bank’s Annual Meetings held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

The Board comprises finance ministers and central bank governors from the Bank’s 81 member countries.

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JUST IN: Appeal Court Affirms Okphebholo as Edo Governor

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‎‎The Court of Appeal in Abuja has affirmed Monday Okphebholo as duly elected in the September 21, 2024 Edo Governorship polls, as it affirms the decision of the Tribunal which on April 2 dismissed the petition of Asue Ighodalo of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for lacking merit. ‎‎

A three-man panel of the Appeal court, presided over by Justice Mohamed Danjuma, restated the position of the Tribunal which held that the PDP failed to provide sufficient and credible evidence to substantiate their claims of electoral malpractice, irregularities, and non-compliance with the Electoral Act.‎‎

The panel held that the PDP failed to provide sufficient and credible evidence to substantiate their claims of electoral malpractice, irregularities, and non-compliance with the Electoral Act. ‎‎

The Appellate Court agrees with the Tribunal that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) Machines which the appellants tendered were merely ‘dumped’ as they weren’t demonstrated to prove overvoting.

‎‎This the Court held after it earlier expunged the 133 BVAS machines admitted in evidence at the Tribunal stage of the Governorship tussle. ‎‎

Ighodalo and the PDP were further faulted by the Appellate Court for failing to tender the voter register to prove overvoting.

The Court further adds that BVAS extract doesn’t constitute items with which to prove overvoting. ‎‎It says the documents tendered by the PDP at the Tribunal did not, on their own, prove overvoting, non-holding or cancellation of elections at the polling units.

‎‎To further puncture the case of the PDP, the panel says the 19 witnesses called by the appellants during the Tribunal hearing didn’t help their case.

It says the majority of them did not witness what they spoke about. Moreso, it adds they were insufficient to prove irregularities in polling stations at over 4,000 locations.

‎‎Nigeria’s electoral body, INEC, had declared Okpebholo the winner with 291,667 votes, against Asue Ighodalo of the PDP who garnered 247,274 votes.

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