The Ogun State Government says it has issued 4,000 certificates of occupancy to landowners in the state.

The Ogun State Special Adviser/Director-General, Bureau of Land and Survey, Mr. Aina Salami, said over 4,000 CofO were issued to landowners who enrolled for the scheme tagged, “Ogun Homeowners’ Charter,” under the platform of the Ogun State Land Administration and Revenue Management System.

According to a statement by the bureau, Salami made this known at a town hall meeting held with the residents of Aiyetoro, Lukosi, Seidu, Ilara, Semawa, Imagbon, Aguntoye, Konigbagbe and its environs.

The meeting was held in Ogijo, in the Sagamu Local Government Area of the state.

The statement added that Salami told residents that the issuance of the certificates of occupancy would help them to value the land resources at their disposal through the ratification of the land and property documents.

“Indeed, the programme is an amnesty for those who built on acquisition land, which the government not intended to demolish but will be able get their title document through ratification at a subsidized rate”, he said.

He emphasised that the present administration was not abandoning the previous scheme in giving those who applied for CofO through the HOC, saying the bureau was facing challenges of contacting those requested for the title documents.

He said that tracing those who applied for the scheme was a difficult undertaking as most of the numbers and emails used to register for the documents could not be reached.

Salami added that the government was working hard to alleviate poverty among its citizens through the introduction of the scheme, saying it had offered them some opportunities to get their land title documents with ease and through digitisation.

According to the statement, the consultant to the Governor/Project Manager, OLARMS, Mrs. Oyindamola Oyelese, hinted that the process of acquiring the land document under the present scheme was digitilised to ease the stress associated with similar programmes in the past.

“In fact, the programme is so easy compared to the past scheme, it is basically Information Technology, which make the people to navigate land process in the state” Oyelese said.

The Commissioner, Ogun State Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, Olatunji Odunlami, represented by Mr Rufus Talabi, described the scheme was an opportunity for the people of the state.

He urged the residents to take advantage of the opportunity being given to them by the governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun.

The Ologijo of Ogijo, Oba Kazeem Olaonioekun, hailed the government for the initiative, urging the residents of Ogijo and its environs to key into the programme.

The royal father urged the government to come to the aid of the residents by fixing the roads, noting that most of the roads and link roads were not motorable and accessible for motorists and commuters.