Edo commences issuance of electronic C-of-O

Edo Government has commenced the issuance of computerised Certificate of Occupancy to landed property owners in the state.
Speaking after signing the first batch of the new electronic C-of-O, at the weekly Executive Council meeting, on Wednesday in Benin, Governor Godwin Obaseki, said the new recertification process would ensure ease of doing business in the state.
Obaseki said the electronic recertification process was another electioneering promise kept by his administration.
He noted that it was also a gift to citizens of the state, who before now had no legal ownership claim to their landed property, especially when needed to be used as collateral to access credit facilities.
The governor implored all members of the state exco and residents to commence recertification of their property to avoid dispute.
He said: “Every piece of property in the state is now captured through our Geographic Information System and title deeds are now available for every property in the state.
“We believe the electronic C-of-O is one of the tools we can use to assist our people to raise capital, because many people have property and do not have a title on them to be used as collateral when they want credit facilities from financial institutions.”
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the recertification process costs about N50,000 and would take a maximum of 40 to 45 days from the day of application to the date of collection.
Obaseki commended the GIS Transport, the technical partner, for fast-tracking the process, which was done within a two-year period.
The Managing Director of EDOGIS, Frank Evbuomwan, said the new method of certification was adopted because of its unique security features.
He said with the computerised C-of-O, it would be difficult for anybody to forge and make claims to any property that did not belong to him or her.
Evbuomwan said “The journey started a year ago when the governor gave us marching orders to title all the landed property within the state.
“We adopted the electronic recertification and certification method, because of its authenticity and specific security features.”