The Edo State Government has generated over N3billion in less than three years through the Edo State Geographic Information Service (EdoGIS) on the back of reforms by the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led administration to ease the process of land registration and improvement in land management in the state.
Managing Director of EdoGIS, Arch. Frank Evbuomwan, who disclosed this in a chat with journalists in Benin City, said the amount was raised between September 2018 and July 2021.
Evbuomwan noted that since the inception of the agency in September 2018, fraudulent practices in the process of registering land have been eliminated through digitization of obtaining Certificate of Occupancy (C-of-O) compared to the past.
The EdoGIS boss further reinstated the agency’s plan to open zonal offices in Auchi, Edo North Senatorial District and Uromi, Edo Central Senatorial District, before the end of 2021, with a target to issue a minimum of 10, 000 C-of-Os yearly.
According to him, “We have been in existence since September 2018. In the first 18 months, we generated about a billion naira but between 2018 to July this year, we have generated over N3 billion to the government coffers.”
He said the EdoGIS has simplified the process of registering land ownership and reduced the timeframe and burden in applying for land titles.
Noting that the ease and convenience in processing title documents for landed property has opened the state for economic growth and attracted investors, Evbuomwan said “Edo State is now the destination for prospective investors due to the speedy access to documentation and titling of lands, as well as guaranteed land property.”
The EdoGIS Managing Director added: “Before the EdoGIS came on board, it took one to three years to get a Certificate of Occupancy. The Edo State Government has simplified the process of obtaining land title and strengthened the security of land and title by signing into law, the Edo State Private Property Protection Law 2021.”
