The Gombe Geographic Information Systems (GOGIS) has issued over five 500 digital occupancy certificates to land property owners in the state.
This was disclosed by the agency’s director-general, Dr Kabiru Usman Hassan, in a statement.
They also witnessed the symbolic presentation of the digitally secured certificate of occupancy (DCofO) signed by the state governor as enshrined by the Land Use Act of 1978.
The director-general said: “Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya has signed over 500 digital certificates of occupancy which are now ready for collection at the GOGIS’s office, upon meeting all the requirements laid down by the agency.”
He added that the agency has also generated about 600 rights of occupancy (RofOs) from 2019 to date, thereby improving the number of applications from the public for the digital certificate of occupancy of the agency.
In the same vein, the director-general said the agency has captured aerial photographs of the entire state which enabled it to have a seamless process of identification of land boundaries, lands, access to geographic data, and certification of lands.
Dr Hassan said the deployment of the Merlin Digital Suite helped the agency in detecting and preventing distortions, encroachment and land fraud.
Speaking on the 2.5 million US dollar grant, the GOGIS boss said part of the governor’s efforts in land administration was key to the World Bank project, through SFTAS which qualified Gombe to be among five states to benefit from the 2.5 million USD grant from the bank.
“GOGIS has restored the citizen’s faith in land administration in Gombe, therefore upholding the public trust, with the deployment of a digital land management system and with the security of their land.
“We have computed the outstanding ground rent owed to the government to the tune of over N500 million. Therefore, we are appealing to all title holders to come forward and settle their outstanding bills,” Dr Hassan further stated.
