Victor Ogunje
The Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, yesterday, presented Certificates of Occupancy to 237 property owners, saying the concept will help in tackling land grabbers and other fraudulent practices in land related matters in the state.
Fayemi lamented that low acquisition of proper land documents was affecting business growth and development adversely in Ekiti, and enthused that regularisation of C of O would promote business interest through access to bank loans.
Fayemi spoke in Ado Ekiti while presenting valid documents to 237 beneficiaries under C of O made easy programme initiated by his government.
The governor, who was represented by the Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Akin Oyebode, said the home owners charter scheme where C of O are procured within three weeks after application was introduced as a policy to accelerate the acquisition of land documents.
“Part of the ways to achieve sustainable economic growth is for landowners to regularise their documents. With this policy, the government relaxes some of the administrative bottlenecks and reduces the required fees.
“It has been noticed that lack of proper title documents had impeded land owners from unlocking their property and create capitals. They can’t use it as collaterals in banks and get loans. I am happy that these 237 people will now have their documents given to them having applied for their certificates.”
Addressing the beneficiaries further, Fayemi said: “With this, you now have valid and legal documents that guarantee your ownership of these landed property and you can also use them to further your business interest.”
Apart from boosting business interests, Fayemi added that the issue of disputes over landed property would be minimised by the policy.
“You can also sell your lands at higher values, while it will complement our digitasation of landed property policy and GIS programmes,” He said.
The Chairman, Ekiti State Board of Internal Revenue Service, Mr. Muyiwa Ogunmilade, said the land documents’ regularisation programme initiated by Fayemi, was a clear attestation to the governor’s avowed stand to propel businesses and vanish social unrest from Ekiti.
Ogunmilade expressed satisfaction with the level of contributions the programme has made in shoring up the state’s internally generated revenues.
“Getting these valid documents within a period of three months unlike before, was a clear evidence that Ekiti had overcome the bottlenecks being encountered in acquisition of C of O.
“This policy helps in ensuring that we get our land documents cheaper, faster and in less cumbersome way and a lot of people are now applying to regularise their land documents as a result of this programme.
“Those working at the Ekiti State University, Federal University, Oye Ekiti, Bamidele Olumilua University of Education, Science and Technology and others are just waiting for us to make a success of the first batch for them to be filing their processes in droves likewise other citizens.
“The most important aspect of it is that, It also helps in generating more revenues to the state, because people are enthusiastic to apply once they can get it within three weeks they make their payments and present their documents on time,” he said.
Also speaking, the Director General, Ekiti State Bureau of Land Matters, Mrs. Funke Falodun, stated that the programme was introduced by the government to boost businesses and expand the scope of people’s access to loan acquisition in banks.
Falodun, who is the special advisers on land matters, added that it would also have a spiral effect on the operations of land developers, architects, builders and other professionals in the system.
