The Federal Government has been urged to overhaul Abuja’s land governance framework to move beyond routine regulatory compliance and reposition the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as a competitive, investment-ready and revenue-efficient capital city.
The call was made at the 32nd John Wood Ekpeyong Memorial Lecture organised by the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV). The lecture, titled: ‘From Compliance to Competitiveness: Positioning Abuja’s Land Governance Framework for Investment Confidence and Revenue Growth’, outlined a series of federal policy interventions aimed at strengthening investor confidence, improving transparency and unlocking sustainable land-based revenue.
Setting the agenda, NIESV President, Victor Alonge, said the programme was organised in honour of John Wood Ekpeyong, the first Nigerian to study estate management, the first to qualify as a chartered surveyor and Nigeria’s first estate surveyor and valuer.
He described Ekpeyong as a founding member and pioneer president of NIESV whose legacy continues to shape the profession.
Chairman of the occasion, Dr Emmanuel Wike, said Ekpeyong would be remembered for uniting his contemporaries around the vision of a single professional body for estate surveying and valuation in Nigeria, as well as for his commitment to institutional development and shared professional values.
According to Wike, the greatest tribute to the late professional leader lies in upholding the ideals he stood for: service, integrity, courage, inclusiveness and unwavering commitment to national and professional development.
Delivering the keynote lecture, past NIESV President, Johnbull Amayaevbo, said land governance in Abuja has remained largely procedural, resulting in fragmented systems, weak coordination and missed fiscal opportunities, despite the city’s strategic importance and rising land values.
He argued that Abuja’s land administration framework must evolve into an integrated, market-oriented system capable of supporting investment confidence and efficient revenue generation.
Amayaevbo proposed the creation of an integrated land governance architecture for the FCT, recommending that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, in collaboration with the FCTA Permanent Secretary, the Director-General of the Abuja Geographic Information Systems (AGIS) and the Chairman of the FCT Internal Revenue Service, issue a harmonisation directive by the second quarter of 2026. The directive would establish unified data standards, workflows and service timelines across all land-related agencies.
He further proposed the constitution of a Land Governance Coordination Council by the third quarter of 2026, involving the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation and the Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), to oversee inter-agency compliance, coordination and dispute resolution.
In addition, the lecture recommended deploying a single, investor-facing land governance portal by the fourth quarter of 2026 to consolidate approvals, application tracking, and escalation channels.
Amayaevbo also called for transforming Abuja’s digital land records into a fully automated, end-to-end digital land market that covers allocation, titling, valuation, consent, and payments within guaranteed service timelines.
He urged the FCT Minister, working with the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, AGIS and the FCTA Permanent Secretary, to mandate legally enforceable digital workflows for all land transactions by mid-2026.
The lecture further proposed integrating cadastral, planning, valuation, and transaction datasets into a real-time land market intelligence system by the third quarter of 2026. It also recommended enforcing end-to-end electronic payments and automated audit trails by the fourth quarter of 2026 to eliminate discretion and revenue leakages.
To improve fiscal efficiency, the lecture called for the institutionalisation of transparent, market-based mass valuation systems with regular revaluations and professional independence. It recommended the statutory adoption of mass appraisal standards, with compulsory periodic revaluations, by the second quarter of 2026, in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance, the Coordinating Ministry of the Economy, and NIESV.
An independent valuation oversight and review mechanism, insulated from political interference and involving the Estate Surveyors and Valuers Registration Board of Nigeria (ESVARBON), was proposed for establishment by the third quarter of 2026. According to Amayaevbo, valuation outputs should be integrated directly into billing, enforcement and dispute-resolution systems by the fourth quarter of 2026.
Recognising the rapid growth of informal settlements around Abuja, the lecture recommended the formalisation of peri-urban landholdings through simplified titling, area-based registration, and graduated tenure systems.
Under the proposal, low-cost titling frameworks would be developed by mid-2026 in collaboration with Area Councils, while graduated tenure instruments granting interim development rights would be introduced by the third quarter of 2026 in partnership with traditional institutions and community leaders. Newly formalised areas, according to the lecture, should be integrated into valuation rolls, planning controls, and revenue systems by the fourth quarter of 2026.
The lecture also emphasised the need to elevate Estate Surveyors and Valuers as strategic partners in land governance. It proposed their formal inclusion in land policy formulation and governance reform committees from the second quarter of 2026, alongside stronger statutory protections for professional independence, ethics enforcement and capacity development.
It further called for mandatory professional valuation inputs in taxation, compensation, public land transactions and public-private partnership (PPP) projects by the fourth quarter of 2026.
Amayaevbo stressed that land governance is no longer just about administering land but about managing confidence.
“Abuja’s transition from compliance to competitiveness is critical to unlocking land value, stabilising internally generated revenue and sustaining urban growth,” he said, adding that repositioning land governance as market-supporting infrastructure rather than mere regulatory control would enable the FCT to convert its land assets into competitive capital and strengthen its standing as a fiscally resilient and globally competitive capital city.
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