Abuja managers resolve over 500 cases of multiple land allocations; ban local councils

The Abuja Administration has resolved over 500 cases of double and multiple land allocations as well as various court cases relating to land in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The FCT Director of Land Administration, Adamu Jibrin, said that the such Court cases were resolved through arbitration.
The Director recalled that in April 2016, the FCT Minister, Muhammad Bello established a 10-Member Land Appeals and Petitions Committee in order to institutionalize machinery for quick dispensation of justice on all land appeals and petitions in Abuja, which no doubt has been yielding positive results.
According to him, some of these land cases are up to 10 years old adding that the present Administration has taken the bull by the horn to resolve them.
Further mechanisms are being put in place to prevent their recurrence through the use of Information Technology (IT).
Jibrin has said that government is addressing appeals and petitions from the public and has henceforth put an end to injustice and impunity in the FCT Land Administration processes.
The Director further recalled that in September 2016, in order to ensure that due process is followed to the letter, the Administration constituted a 12-Member FCT Land Use and Allocation Committee (LUAC) in line with the provisions of the Land Use Act 1978.
He revealed that the FCT Administration decided to close down all Zonal Planning Offices in the six Area Councils of the Territory due to fraudulent activities.
The Director insisted that no reasonable government would sit down and watch fraud.
Jibrin reiterated that nobody is allowed to allocate any parcel of land within the 8,000 square kilometers of the Federal Capital Territory except the FCT Minister, who is also acting on the delegated authority of the President.
He emphasized that all actions taken or allocations made by the erstwhile Zonal Planning Offices remain invalid until regularized and approved by the FCT Minister.
“All Area Councils’ titles are invalid until regularized and approved by the Honourable Minister of the Federal Capital Territory after being vetted by the inter-departmental committee set up to now handle the Accelerated Area Councils and Sectional Titles Re-Issuance Scheme (AACSTRIS) project,” he added.
He said further: “The process is shortened because once a plot owner pays for Certificate of Occupancy (C-of-O), the title document is promptly taken to the Honourable Minister for his signature and is delivered to the owner in a record time.”