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Home » Practical hint for acquisition of land in FCT, Abuja

Practical hint for acquisition of land in FCT, Abuja

by Totori News
  1. INTRODUCTION

The Nigeria Land use Act 1978 and as amended in 2004 remains The Principal Legislation that regulates land-related issues in Nigeria. It was enacted to cure extreme hardship that is experienced by citizens during land acquisition.

About three decades of its promulgation, rather than give unhindered access and procedure to land acquisition especially for industrialization and large scale farming, e.t.c. The law seems to nationalize land when it placed it in the hands of the Government as custodian to hold in trust for the use of Nigerians across the Thirty-six (36) states of the Federation.

  • BRIEF TAKE HOME HINTS

However, our focus herein is to appraise brief hints of acquisition of land in F.C.T. For purposes of clarity and practicability, especially first-timers and or investors coming into F.C.T for one investment and/or the other. Federal Capital Territory lands in a nutshell are very different in its acquisition and applicability from other states.

  1. All lands in F.C.T are held in trust by the Minister from the president for the entire citizens of Nigeria.
  • Every segment of lands in FCT is designated as urban lands hence there is no Customary nor rural land in FCT as case maybe.

The above Illustrations have a very wide insinuation and implication which various subscribers and investors are yet to come into terms with.

All lands in FCT are under the control of the Minister which is appointed ordinarily by the president hence supervises the Abuja Geographical Information System (AGIS) and Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA/FCTA) departments used for the allocation of lands and monitoring of compliance to the building of infrastructure respectively.

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The AGIS warehouses the data of all lands within FCT, lands acquired without details contained in the data bank of AGIS may not likely be genuine land.

Every investor should avoid acquisition of Area Council Lands, this is because the Minister by law is the only authority recognized to allocate land except lands allocated to Area Councils by the FCT Minister for the use of the Area Councils and for farming purposes.

The Land Use Act 1978 as amended recognizes all lands in FCT as Urban lands, by this, it restricts the Village Chiefs and Area Council Chairmen from allocating lands to citizens, anyone involved in such someday may regret the act of his or her action.

Because of limited space herein, may I go straight to the two methods of land acquisition in FCT thus;

A. Direct Allocation of land

B. Purchase from a third party

  1. DIRECT ALLOCATION; Application forms are obtained either at the front desk of the AGIS or as may be directed by the department for other commercial  or Residential land purposes with a prescribed fees to be made in favour of the Abuja Geographic Information System (AGIS) completing the forms with required attachment of personal /corporate information document, thereafter submit and await for approval and subsequent allocation of lands, though it takes years to be done which has been criticized and we hope it can be facilitated in record period of time and Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) granted in the name of the applicant.
  • PURCHASE FROM A THIRD PARTY: This option is faster but very expensive. It encourages ready investors to acquire and perfect their land title documents and move on. This is done by parties raising deed of Assignment or power of attorney as case maybe after purchase fees has been agreed upon and subsequent consent of the Minister of FCT sought and obtained. If all the chargeable fees are paid the transfer title or document are effected to the new owner and the deal is sealed. Please note that FCT Administration advises foreign investors to go through direct allocation from the government.
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Flowing from the above, the department of land administration under the FCT Administration and Abuja Geographic Information System (AGIS) are responsible for the land acquisition, also note, any land not contained in the data bank of AGIS may not be granted access for development by the Development Control Department of FCDA and always note that area council lands are not advisable to purchase.

NEXT EDITION HINTS:

I shall be analyzing and or enumerating the requirements for land acquisition for an individual and that of a corporate body in FCT.

For critique and contribution, contact via

chukwuemekaclement@yahoo.com

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