Nelson Utip
The government of Edo State said that it has registered over 9000 Certificates of Occupancy in the state between February and April 17, 2025, Dr. Tony Ikpasaja, the Managing Director of Edo State Geographic Information Service (EdoGIS) disclosed this when he played host to the Executive members of the Correspondents’ Chapel, the Edo State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in his office in Benin City, the state capital.
Ikpasaja disclosed that this was achieved in spite of the challenges of shutting down the agency’s system by the consultant employed by the immediate past administration in the state.
Ikpasaja was appointed by Governor Okpebholo in January 2025 to run the affairs of the agency, he said that the feat was achieved within the period with the new software as against 1000 recorded by the immediate past government of Godwin Obaseki between 2023 and February 2025.
The MD further disclosed that the agency has in recent times acquired more sophisticated equipment to improve its productivity and ensure that applicants’ applications are attended to in good time.
Ikpasaja also said that the agency under his watch inherited Over 7500 files that were not attended to, he addied that the files belong to applicants who want their land to be registered and captured in the EdoGIs database.He assured applicants that their files for Certificates of Occupancy would be treated and captured into the database without further delay while advising property and land owners to legalize their property.
He admonished that any landed property without a Certificate of Occupancy is not a legal asset
“As of today, I can boldly tell you that we have captured and processed over 9000 files of certificate of Occupancy. We have also been signing and issuing out Certificates of Occupancy.
“Over 9000 Certificates of Occupancy have been registered from February 2025 to date with the new software against 1000 registered from 2023 to February 2025.
“When I came on board, I met about 7500 total files of applicants that were not attended to. It is disheartening that people will pay for registration will just leave the files there unattended.
“Within the next few weeks or months, we will clear the applications we have, and we will give Nigerians and Edo people their Certificates of Occupancy.
“I also want to assure those that have applied that as far as their certificate is here and being processed, your land is secure because, by our system, nobody can come and process that particular land again.
“The kind of restructuring we did was a total departure from what it used to be before or met on the ground because the staff are operating on international best practices.
“What we have now today does not give you room to keep files because we are working accordingly to the World Bank standards which is the international best practices.” He said
The MD further disclosed that for effective service delivery, the agency has opened offices in Auchi and Ekpoma.
