Tunji Wusu –
Abdullahi Sule, the governor of Nasarawa State, claims that out of a strong desire to welcome investment, he denied himself sleep in order to sign 300 Certificates of Occupancy (C of O) in a single evening.
He claimed that his office encountered stacks of Certificates of Occupancy that investors had already filed but who may have been waiting for the paperwork to acquire facilities from financial institutions in order to start using them.
He added that there were multiple petitions from individual landowners who wanted legitimate paperwork to start developing their plots and that he needed to take action quickly to deal with the matter.
He said, “I remembered I signed over 300 certificates in one night. That’s why I went through sleepless nights going through the documents and signing them.
Director General of the State Geographic Information Service (NAGIS), Sonny Agassi, also commented on the development. He added that in comparison to his former predecessors in office, the current incumbent sped up the procedures leading to the issuance of Certificates of Occupancy to land owners in the state.
He said that Governor Sule has signed more certificates of endorsement since taking office in 2019 than all of his predecessors put together.
Between 1999 until the present, 8,893 C of O were signed by individuals in charge of the state’s operations, according to Mr. Agassi, who also noted that Governor Sule signed 5,344 of those in just over four years.
According to information given to journalists, the immediate predecessor of the current governor, Senator Tanko Al-Makura, signed 3,254 bills during his eight years in the Shendam Road seat of power.
The data also showed that the first civilian governor of the state, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, signed 254 C of O between 1999 and 2007 while he was in office, compared to the late former governor Aliyu Akwe Doma, who only signed 24 of the documents during the four years he served as the state’s chief executive.
The data revealed that a total of 153 documents were endorsable to state landowners by the military authorities who oversaw the state from the time of its foundation in 1996 until 1999.
According to Mr. Agassi, the governor’s track record in the land sector is exceptional and demonstrates his dedication to fostering an environment that would enable investors to capitalize on the state’s numerous opportunities.
