Abuja in Brief

Abuja the new capital of Federal Republic of Nigeria came into existence by virtue of the Federal Capital Territory Act, of 1976. The Territory covers a a complete acreage of roughly 8,000 sq. kilometres, although the City proper is to cover a total land area of 250 square kilometres. A Master Plan for the City and the Territory was planned by the International Planning Associates, (IPA) and approved by federal Government of Nigeria in 1979.

Building work started in the early 80s, whereas the seat of Government was finally shifted from Lagos to Abuja in 1991 during the regime of former Nigeria military head of states Gen. Ibrahim Babangida. Efficient control, administration, and management of the FCT landmass became the key to successful functioning of the Abuja Master Plan and the arranged development of a City envisaged by the Master Plan. This can only be achieved successfully with a reliable and up to date cadastral and land records.

The Land Use Act of 1978 is the foremost law guiding land purchase, resettlement, and its distribution to all eligible Nigerians and non Nigerian; Private, Government Organizations and Non Governmental Organizations. The Act provides for the Government to hold land in trust for the use and general benefit of all Nigerians, for the realization of impartiality, fairness, and justice in the control and management of land, resettlement, and reward purposes. This ideal can be achieved with adequate and capable land administration apparatus. One of those tools is a dependable and up-to-date land records.

All the Land related government department have been keeping manual record custody right from beginning. This method is prone to a lot of trouble such as, numerous allocations of plots, Land Use Abuses, Encroachments, incompetent method of Revenue Generation, increase of Unplanned/Squatter Settlements, The use of outdated Survey tools, widespread subdivision, and remodel of plots and extension beyond the Federal Capital City Master Plan restrictions. This has been a serious restriction on good control inside the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria.