Niger State Government said it was making efforts to simplify land registration and acquisition to encourage investment and fast-track development in the state.
The commissioner for land and survey, Barr. Maurice Bello Magaji, disclosed this recently during the weekly post-executive council press conference at Government House, Minna.
He said the ministry of land and survey was going to rely on information and communication technology (ICT) to reduce physical contact between members of the public and officers of the ministry and make registrations, payment of fees, and acquisition of titles virtual and seamless.
The commissioner said the benefits of this new method were to reduce corruption, increase access, minimise time and distance, and encourage investors to process their titles as quickly as possible to fast-track development.
He said the innovative approach will include making the issuance of certificates of occupancy and other titles a weekly event where successful applicants will be issued their certificates by the governor before or after the council meetings.
Mr. Maurice Magaji disclosed further that both the CCECC and Arab contractors recently awarded contracts for reconstruction of roads in urban areas have been handed sites to construct their camps, and the communities where the sites were located will benefit immensely from the companies.
He said the state government will engage a technical firm to map the entire state and develop reliable geospatial data for easy reference and other uses.
Niger State Governor, Mohammed Umaru Bago, has said that the state will not accept the poor work being done at the runway of Minna International Airport.
The governor, who was at the facility to assess the reconstruction of the runway, was visibly angry.
He told the contractor that the work was poor, shabbily executed, and unacceptable to the state. He observed that the contractor did not meet the required standard of the contract despite the funds he had received.
During one of the governor's inspection visits, the contractor was assured to deliver standard work in mid-August 2023.
He then charged the contractor to immediately return to the site and fix the runway to the agreed standard as the state prepares to receive guests for the upcoming Green Economy Summit slated for the 24th and 25th of October, 2023.
The Governor was accompanied by his deputy, Comrade Yakubu Garba, the managing director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Kabir Yusuf Muhammad, the chairman of the House Committee on Aviation, Abdullahi Idris Garba, and some members of the State Executive Council.
