Laleye Dipo in Minna
With just N20,000 you can now obtain a certificate of occupancy in Niger state.
The state government has also said that the document could be obtained within two months.
The new policy announced on Thursday by the Commissioner for Information, Mr Jonathan Tsado Vatsa, at a post-executive council media briefing was approved by the state executive council at its meeting held in Minna on Wednesday.
He said the new amount was for the acquisition of the document in the urban centres of Minna, the state capital, Bida, Kontagora and Suleja as well as the remaining capitals of other local government areas.
As for other towns in the state, the Commissioner said the fee would be N15,000.
Vatsa said the idea was to ensure the people of the state met one of the conditions for the acquisition of loans from the Bank of Industries BOI.
“Our people have not taken full advantage of the opportunities presented by the BOI to establish small and medium scale businesses because many of them did not have C of O.
“This arrangement is to encourage them to patronize the BOI, a lot of money is lying idle there with nobody ready to apply,” he said.
