RCCG, Justice Ministry Coop Among 485 Hit by Abuja Land Title Nullifications

The Federal Capital Territory Administration has announced the cancellation of 485 land documents in Abuja. These were invalidated after failing to meet the required verification standards during a thorough review by the Department of Land Administration and the Abuja Geographic Information Systems (AGIS).

Many of the documents were found to be inauthentic or outright fake, according to officials. A public notice issued on Monday, labeled as Batch I, confirmed that the affected applications—primarily those involving Area Council land submissions for regularisation—have been removed from the official regularisation database.

“This is to inform the general public, particularly applicants who submitted Area Council land documents for regularisation, that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory has approved the nullification or cancellation of applications that failed the necessary official checks for genuineness and have been confirmed to be fake,” the notice read.

The cancelled documents span several Area Councils and layouts. In the Bwari Area Council, the affected locations include Ushafa Village Expansion Scheme, Ushafa Extension and Dawaki Extension 1.

Within the Abuja Municipal Area Council, impacted districts include Kurudu-Jikwoyi Relocation, Kurudu Commercial, Karu Village Extension, Nyanya Phase IV Extension, Jikwoyi Residential, Sabon Lugbe and Lugbe I Extension. Kuchiyako One layout in the Kuje Area Council was also listed among the affected areas.

The affected parties include prominent organizations such as the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) and the Ministry of Justice Staff Multi-purpose Cooperative Society, along with various other individuals and entities.

Under Nigerian law, all land in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) is vested in the Federal Government. As a result, Certificates of Occupancy and other valid land titles must be processed exclusively through the office of the FCT Minister and formalized by the Abuja Geographic Information Systems (AGIS).

This recent cancellation is part of wider land administration reforms being implemented by the FCTA to tackle persistent issues like forged documents, double allocations, and irregular grants reportedly issued by some Area Councils.

The move is integrated into a months-long regularisation exercise aimed at cleaning up the system and ensuring only legitimate titles are recognized.

The reforms trace back to last year, when the FCTA revealed that only 8,287 out of 261,914 Area Council land documents submitted between 2006 and 2023 had undergone screening. This vetted portion amounted to just 3.2% of the total, leaving a massive 253,627 documents still pending in the database.