Fresh facts have emerged that the Niger State government reduced the cost of processing and acquiring Certificate of Occupancy,(CofO) from N127,000 to a flat rate of N15,000 for urban based property with effect from January next year, to boosting the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).
Niger State Governor, Abubakar Bello has already given approval to the recommendation. Land owners in the rural areas are also expected to pay as low as N5,000 for the certificate of a standard plot from the past flat rate of N127,000.
The state Commissioner for Lands and Housing, Alh. Haliru Zakari Jikantoro told media personnel after the State Executive Council meeting at the Government House Minna that the intention is aimed at boosting the IGR of the state will last for only six months, terminating in June, 2017 before reverting to its old rate of N127,000.
Besides serving as revenue booster for the state, the Commissioner said the policy was aimed at enabling individuals prove the ownership of their landed properties, help provide means of creating wealth.
According to him, the acquisition of the Certificate can be used as collateral for loan and invariably boost not only the IGR of the state alone but also boost the economic potentials of individuals in the state.
He said: “The state government has decided to reduce the cost of processing and acquiring Certificate of Occupancy of all types of titles. Land in the urban areas will now cost N15,000 while the Certificate for land in other towns will attract N5,000.
“This policy which takes effect from January 2017 and last till 30th of June, 2017 is aimed at raising the Internally Generated Revenue of the state, to authenticate properties to genuine owners, ensure security and at the same time to create wealth for the people.”
He added that the new fee is fixed irrespective of the location and the purpose for which the land is meant or used for saying,”the flat rate covers all categories of land which include commercial, residential and farm lands”.
Jikantoro assured that steps have been taken to avoid fraudsters hijacking the noble objective of the government, stressing that no physical cash will be collected from individuals as all payments are to be paid to some designated Commercial banks for accountability and transparency and that the governor has promised to sign all applications promptly.
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