An advocacy group – Housing Development Advocacy Network (HDAN) has commended the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) for its new policy of issuing Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) to all mass housing projects in Abuja.

In a statement, the Executive Director, HDAN, Festus Adebayo, noted that the policy will eliminate dead capitals in the country. According to Adebayo, the dead capitals are those properties that have no legal recognition and that cannot be used for financial transactions.

“For the minister to have issued a directive that all dead assets in the FCT be brought alive with legal titles is a good development. To us, this part of Bola Tinubu administration’s manifesto and we are happy this has started through the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike.

Nigeria is reported to hold close to $1 trillion worth of dead capital in residential real estate that should have been used as catalysts for the rapid economic development of the country and reduction of abject poverty among Nigerians.

According to a 2018 – 2019 Nigeria living standards survey (NLSS) report by the bureau of statistics (NBS), 71.4 per cent of landlords sampled across the 36 states and FCT are without titles. This is one of the causes of poverty in Nigeria.

He said this type of policy will facilitate the development of the mortgage sector and encourage the reliance on properties as security for credit; generate substantial revenue for the state and federal governments.

The group said that if the new policy is implemented, the economy of Nigeria will improve within a year.

“The implication of this policy is that, with C of Os, the owners of these properties can have access to finance and this will reduce the level of poverty in the country. It will also affect the mortgage sector positively.” HDAN said.

Adebayo further stated that the group will support any laudable policy introduced in the FCT, as “we do more in creating awareness to state governors to adopt such policy in their domains. We are calling on president Tinubu to prevail on state governors to issue C of Os to all houses under the mass housing scheme.”