Wike Cancels 485 Land Documents in Abuja Over Forgery

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has approved the cancellation of 485 land documents in Abuja after they failed official verification checks.

The affected documents were nullified following a thorough review by the Department of Land Administration in collaboration with the Abuja Geographic Information Systems (AGIS). Authorities said many of the documents were confirmed to be fake.

In a public notice issued on Monday and marked Batch I, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) informed applicants who submitted Area Council land documents for validation that the invalid applications had been removed from the regularisation database.

“This is to inform the general public, particularly applicants who submitted Area Council land documents for regularisation, that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory has approved the nullification or cancellation of applications that failed the necessary official checks for genuineness and have been confirmed to be fake,” the notice read.

The cancelled documents span several Area Councils and layouts. In Bwari Area Council, affected locations include Ushafa Village Expansion Scheme, Ushafa Extension, and Dawaki Extension 1.

In Abuja Municipal Area Council, impacted districts include Kurudu-Jikwoyi Relocation, Kurudu Commercial, Karu Village Extension, Nyanya Phase IV Extension, Jikwoyi Residential, Sabon Lugbe, and Lugbe I Extension. Kuchiyako One layout in Kuje Area Council was also affected.

Groups affected include the Redeemed Christian Church of God and the Ministry of Justice Staff Multi-purpose Cooperative Society, among others.

Under Nigerian law, all land in the FCT belongs to the Federal Government, and Certificates of Occupancy or other land titles must be processed through the office of the FCT Minister and formalised by AGIS.

The cancellations form part of ongoing land administration reforms by the FCTA to tackle forged documents, double allocations, and irregular grants previously issued by some Area Councils.

The regularisation exercise has been underway for months. Last year, the FCTA revealed that only 8,287 out of 261,914 Area Council land documents submitted between 2006 and 2023 had been screened.

This represented just 3.2 per cent of submissions, leaving 253,627 documents still awaiting verification.

FCTA officials acknowledged that progress had been slow, with 96.8 per cent of documents still pending clearance.

Titilope Adako

Titilope Adako is a talented and intrepid journalist, dedicated to shedding light on the untold stories of Osun State and Nigeria. Through incisive reporting, she tackles a broad spectrum of topics, from politics and social justice to culture and entertainment, with a commitment to accuracy, empathy, and inspiring positive change.

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