FCT: Tinubu govt signs 26,272 C-of-Os in 3 years, 17,575 more than previous 13 years

By Adebola Muili

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Administration has signed 26,272 Certificates of Occupancy (C-of-O) since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu assumed office, exceeding the 8,697 certificates produced and signed during the 13 years preceding the present administration.

The development, according to the FCT Administration, is part of efforts to improve the ease of doing business in the nation’s capital and support access to credit for property owners and businesses.

Senior Special Assistant to the FCT Minister on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, August 16, 2026.

Olayinka said the 26,272 C-of-Os signed under the administration of FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, represented a significant increase over the 5,500 certificates produced and signed during the five-and-a-half-year administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan and the 3,197 produced and signed during the eight-year administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

He noted that many of the beneficiaries of the certificates issued under the present administration had received their land allocations more than 10 years ago.

According to him, the Certificate of Occupancy serves as trusted collateral for commercial loans, mortgages and business expansion capital, while delays in obtaining the document could restrict property owners and small and medium-sized businesses from accessing needed funding.

He said the FCT Administration had streamlined the process to enable land allottees obtain their C-of-Os within two weeks of completing the required payments.

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

He added that an automated notification system had also been introduced to inform land allottees when their documents were ready for collection.

Olayinka attributed previous delays in the issuance of C-of-Os to inefficiencies which, he said, discouraged some landowners from completing their payments.

Beyond the issuance of Certificates of Occupancy, the FCT Administration under Wike has also granted 2,521 Consents to Assign and 177 Consents to Mortgage in the last three years of the Tinubu 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 issued during the Buhari administration.

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

The FCT Administration said the measures were aimed at removing administrative bottlenecks, unlocking the value of property assets and further improving the business environment in the capital territory.