Host – Hello good morning and many thanks for joining us for yet another edition of your favorite program ‘Your Neighbourhood and You’. Today again, I am not alone, we have a guest who is also a big fish in the big ocean alongside my sponsor. A very good morning to you sir.
Sponsor – Good morning Comfort, how are you?
Host – I am very well, thank you. Before we meet our guest, could you please tell us what we have for today?
Sponsor – Our listeners will get to know more of what certificate of occupancy is all about, as we all know that it’s a very important document when talking about properties for the buyers and owners. It is a legal document issued by the state governments in Nigeria and verifies that you own the land or property in question. Property purchased without a CofO is equivalent to purchasing a vehicle without document. So today, I am sure that our guest will help us to know the procedure that we need to get this CofO.
Host – Alright. Thank you very much. So with us this morning is Estate surveyor, Prince Ade Akinbola. He is the Director of Deed right, glad to have you on the program this morning sir.
Guest – Good morning, how are you?
Host – I’m very well thank you.
Guest – I want to say a good morning to our listeners at home and also wish you happy anniversary. I know our country is a great country and it shall continue to be great. Good morning once again.
Host – Glad to have you on the program this morning. Can we meet you sir?
Guest – My name is ESV Prince Adeduro Akinbola, I am the Director Deed rights and Deed registry department in the min. of infrastructure, lands and housing. I am in charge of HOCOS which has to do with processing of titled documents for the public. I am under the supervision of the permanent secretary Ministry of land and housing and as well the commissioner for infrastructure, lands and housing.
Host – Thank you so much. What is home ownership charter of ondo state (HOCOS)?
Guest – Thank you very much, it is a scheme that was established on the 4th of January 2022, we established the scheme to process title for residential land owners in the state, because we discovered that so many people just build without relevant document, the governor said we should look for a way to have those properties properly titled. Then we decided to embark on this scheme, reaching out and explaining to them what they need to have their property properly titled. That’s what the scheme is all about, it captures residential property owners or interest in the state. We been doing that for some time and it is progressing, we want to thank everybody because their responds has been so encouraging. I want to say this that when we started the scheme, we tried as much as possible to streamline our process in such a way that it would somehow be fast-tracked and the bottlenecks that are associated with processing of title has been removed. Now, you can process with ease and it’s still cheaper, most of the requirements that we usually tell people to come with whenever they want to process land title, we’ve somehow removed it to make it easy for them to process.
Host – You said something about ease, how easy is it?
Guest – It is very easy because in the past, processing of CofO requires a lot of documents, for example, you need approved survey plan, evidence of ownership, building plan and all the rest but now, even if your survey is not approved, you can still come to the office to process your title. We will get it approved for you, there is a mechanism within the scheme that has provided for such request and it is now faster than what it use to be because we now have more hands that are into land titling. We have many people that are assisting and ensuring we get it processed on time. You don’t need a middleman or agent, we have offices all over the state, you can walk into our office and have your title processed for you without going through anybody. Within the space of 60 days, you will get your CofO.
Host – Thank you so much, you said you have offices, is it like you have outlets in Akure or people come to the ministry where you have different department or offices where they can go to?
Guest – We have 18 LGA in Ondo state, we are not restricting the scheme to resident of Akure, even if it is Okitipupa, Ilaje you want to process your land, just go to our office there where they can guide you on how to get you property properly titled. You can process anywhere you find yourself in Ondo state.
Host – I know our sponsor has loads of questions lined for you but I need to verify this because of the people at home, you said you have offices in different LGA in Ondo state, in Akure for instance, how many offices do you have?
Guest – We have a center at Akure south LGA, ODIRS office opposite DOME in Alagbaka, they will guide you there. Although the Ministry of land and housing is the office that actually process the title, you can come there directly and have your property titled. We are working hand in hand and do meet from time to time, if you come to those centers, I can assure you that you will have your property titled.
Sponsor – Thank you very much sir, the listeners would like to know the vital documents they need to bring that will guarantee their CofO.
Guest – The first thing you need to do is to apply by buying the application form, there is a scratch card that is attached to that form which you will unveil then you will put your number there, that’s the first thing…
Sponsor – Is it free of charge?
Guest – No, it is not. It is 6,000 naira. Apart from that, you will need your survey plan, it is what actually describe the land. Then the evidence of ownership – family receipt, affidavit, agreement etc. Then you pay the land use charge atleast for the current year on the land, then a picture of the property and the fifth requirement is a photocopy of your valid ID card. Those are the major requirements if you want to process a title under the Home Ownership Charter.
Sponsor – Thank you very much sir, someone told me before that you can get HOCOS CofO for a virgin land, I mean land yet to be developed.
Guest – Yes, you are very correct. Inasmuch as you are intending to use it for residential purpose, it is possible.
Sponsor – So land for commercial purpose is not qualified?
Guest – Let me make it clear at this point, the scheme is for residential properties, if its for commercial property, you can also apply but not under HOCOS. You apply under the conventional method. That is how it is done but at the end of the day, the titled that will be issued will still be the same.
Sponsor – Is there any challenge so far?
Guest – Well, the challenge that I think we are having now is that people are not aware about the scheme, the awareness is not something we expected because we expect people to be coming in to take this advantage. For example, if you want to process a title under the conventional method, you will need tax clearance, apart from the requirements that I have mentioned but under HOCOS, we will process for you without tax clearance certificate but it has to be a residential property. So the challenge is that many people do not know the difference now which I am trying to explain now.
The second challenge is that usually when it comes to titling, middlemen are involved and some are not even competent enough to handle titling. I want to encourage our people to go straight to our centers or better still they can come to our office in the Ministry of land and housing. Just take the pains to come to the office so that we will explain things to you and then have your property properly titled without any hindrance because we have received a lot of complains.
Host – I will like to ask you sir, do they need to pay any stamp duty before you can do any of this things for them?
Guest – The home ownership chartered scheme has been packaged in such a way that when you pay, your payment includes processing of CofO, approval of your survey by Surveyor General and also include your stamp duty, but if your property is a commercial property, you may need to pay stamp duty but the focus here is on HOCOS, so if you are processing under the scheme, you don’t need to pay stamp duty.
Sponsor – Is there any law backing HOCOS program? I asked this because people will like to know if it has come to stay or just one of the government program that will be scrapped in the next regime.
Guest – When you talk of processing of titles, there are laws that guide how we process land titles. Now, it is the same law that say we should process CofO that is backing this scheme. At the end of the day, the CofO that will be issued under HOCOS is the same as the one that will be issued under conventional method and it is the same even if you have a land through direct grant, that is, you apply to the government and they give you land allocation. The difference is that under HOCOS, we are not requesting people to come with some documents like tax clearance. To process tax clearance now is 180,000 if I am right, that is if you’re a petty trader but if you are a business man and the likes, you pay more. You can imagine an artisan who is struggling to make ends meet and you’re telling him to come and process CofO with tax clearance of 180,000, it may be too much for him to bear. We are saying come with survey plan which is very important, it is the engine of CofO, then there must be an evidence of how you got the land, we need all that document in our custody.
Sponsor – Thank you very much sir, you made mention of survey, receipt, ID card and land use charges, you didn’t mention approved building plan. I am a town planner and I know before you can build a house, you must have an approval and if you don’t do, it means you have committed a crime.
Guest – Thank you very much, I think I made an omission. The home ownership charter covers that area that you have mentioned. If you build without approved building plan, the scheme is in conjunction with the office of the Surveyor-General, Ministry of Urban development and lands and we have desk officers in our headquarters that they can look at what you have built to see if there is no obstruction or contravention, then they will encourage you to have your building plan approved. After the CofO, we will now encourage them to have their building plan approved. Now, the scheme is like a soft landing for people who have erred. You built without CofO, approved plan and the likes…
Sponsor – Sorry to cut you short, there are some people that with even without survey, but the issue is that, you didn’t waive the survey but the scheme is trying to waive or have already waived approved building plan now replacing with picture of the building.
Guest – Thank you, we are not waiving approved building plan. After the approval of the CofO, they still have to go further to ensure that they get their approved building plan. We are not waiving it but the issue of survey is very important because the CofO you want to issue is on land, not building. We must ensure also that you acquire the land the right way. That’s it, it’s not like we are encouraging people not to have their building plan approved.
Sponsor – Thank you very much sir, this question I think is personal somehow, I know you said that HOCOS is to get CofO with ease but we have issues in Sunshine Gardens Estate, it’s been like 3 months now and my people will like to hear from you. What’s the situation of Sunshine Gardens CofO?
Guest – Thank you very much. You see, when we started this scheme, I said it covers residential properties that are acquired under the private treaty, and it does not cover direct grants. For example, the scheme does not apply to those who applied to government, I mean they that applied for government land allocation. In Sunshine Gardens Estate, you did not acquire the land through Omo-onile or land owners, it is treated as direct grant. There are parcels of land that are acquired under private treaty, that is, you going to a private owner and buy land, that’s what HOCOS was designed to accommodate but we now decided to process title for people in Sunshine Gardens. Before your request came in, we have already structured how we will be processing for people that have acquired under the private treaty. We have our plans, the scheme has been designed in such a way to accommodate residential properties acquired under private treaty, now you are bringing in direct grant. We have some statutory measure that we have to introduce into it to accommodate it but I can assure you that we have concluded on how to incorporate your request into the scheme and I can assure you that within the next 6 weeks, you will start to have your titles by God’s grace.
Host – What is the cost of CofO under HOCOS?
Guest – It depends on the size of the land but if your land is not above 1000sqm, it’s just #150,000 but if it is above 1000sqm, you will pay more.
Host – Your final words for our people at home.
Guest – My word is this, like I said earlier, feel free to come to our main office at Oyemekun road inside the Ministry of works yard, you can come there to put in your application directly then try as much as possible to avoid middlemen. Some of these people don’t even know the requirement for processing CofO, they just come and say bring money let’s help you process it and then you give them money. We have received a lot of complains in that line. If your location is outside Akure, you can visit our area offices or the ODIRS offices because we all work together.
Host – Thank you so much for coming on the show this morning sir. Until next week when we return with another big fish in the big ocean, I am sure our sponsor has something to say.
Sponsor – Just want to thank our people out there for listening and we thank our guest this morning Prince Ade Akinbola. To you as well Comfort, it’s been nice riding with you on this program.
Host – It’s always a pleasure.