From Tony Osauzo, Benin
The Edo State Geographic Information Service (EdoGIS) has registered over 9,000 Certificates of Occupancy between February and April 17, 2025.
The Managing Director of the agency, Dr. Tony Ikpasaja, made the disclosure when the Executive of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Edo State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), paid him a courtesy visit in his office in Benin City.
He said the feat was achieved despite the challenges of shutting down the agency’s system by the consultant employed by the immediate past government of Godwin Obaseki to run the operations of the agency.
Ikpasaja, who was appointed EdoGIS boss by Governor Okpebholo in January 2025, explained that the feat was achieved within the period with the application of a new software as against 1,000 C of Os recorded by the immediate past government of Godwin Obaseki between 2023 and February 2025.
He disclosed that the agency has recently purchased more sophisticated equipment to improve its productivity and to ensure that applicants’ applications are attended to as quickly as possible, just as he revealed that the agency under his leadership inherited over 7,500 files of applicants who want their land to be registered and captured in the EdoGis database, but were not attended to.
The EdoGIS boss assured applicants that their files for Certificates of Occupancy would be treated and captured into the database and advised property and land owners to legalise their property, warning that any landed property that is 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 9,000 files of certificates of occupancy. We have also been signing and issuing certificates of occupancy.
“Over 9,000 C of Os have been registered from February 2025 to date with the new software against 1,000 registered from 2023 to February 2025.
“When I came on board, I met about 7,500 total files of applicants that were not attended to. It is disheartening that people pay for registration and they 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 long 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
He added that to ensure that all landed property owners are carried along in the administration of land in the state, the agency has opened offices in Auchi and Ekpoma, respectively, adding that the development was to ensure that the operations were brought to the grassroots.