Timothy Alamba Madu
The Plateau State Commissioner for Lands, Survey and Town Planning, Barr. Peter Nyam Gai, says the ministry has reduced the workflow for processing Rights of Occupancy (R of O) and Certificates of Occupancy (C of O) from 46 stages to 25, as part of reforms introduced under the administration of Governor Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang.
Gai disclosed this on Wednesday in Jos while briefing journalists at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Secretariat, where he reeled out the achievements of the ministry since the administration assumed office in 2023.
He said the reforms were driven by a deliberate push to challenge the status quo, motivate staff and make ministry processes easier for customers, under what he tagged “Transformational Leadership for Effective Management.”
The commissioner listed other reforms in land administration to include the gradual elimination of manual processes through digitisation, introduction of a centralised dispatch system, reorganisation of the filing system, and the installation of CCTV cameras within the ministry.
He added that the ministry now applies electronic signatures to Certificates of Occupancy, has redesigned Rights of Occupancy documents with improved security features, and appointed two additional Deed Registrars to fast-track land documentation. Dispatch of demand notices, he said, had also been improved through the deployment of dedicated dispatch riders.
Gai further disclosed that the ministry introduced rebates and incentives for land users and had acquired land to support both state and federal government industrial zones.
According to him, the ministry inherited several challenges on assumption of office, including inadequate working tools, a stagnated and deplorable Geographic Information System (GIS) platform, poor office accommodation, revenue leakages and slow service delivery, among others.
He, however, said the reforms recorded across the ministry’s land administration, survey and town planning departments had begun to address these inherited problems, positioning the ministry as “a key driver of sustainable development in Plateau State.”
The commissioner said sustained investment in manpower, technology, infrastructure and logistics remained necessary to consolidate the gains made so far.
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