Ondo State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, on Wednesday flagged off the distribution of the newly digitised Certificate of Occupancy under the Home Ownership Chartered of Ondo State Scheme (HOCOS).
Akeredolu said the scheme would boost the economic activities of citizens of the state through subsequent transactions with financial institutions, after granting titles which could be used as collaterals in financial transactions.
The governor at the flag-off held at the Cocoa Conference Hall of the Governor’s Office, Alagbaka, Akure, disclosed that HOCOS is aimed at ensuring transparency, fast-tracking and repositioning of land administration in the State. Akeredolu who doubles as the chairman South-West Governor’s Forum maintained that the new Certificates of Occupancy under HOCOS have the mandate of transforming the process of land titling from analogue to digital system.
The Governor maintained that in line with HOCOS objective, his administration has successfully moved, in an innovative manner, from a five-leaf manually produced Certificate of Occupancy to an abridged single-sheet digitised format that was produced with speed, efficiency and accuracy. He further disclosed that his administration has strengthened the land administration sector in the state by recruiting 35 qualified professionals in the fields of Architecture, Quantity Surveying, Land Surveying, Estate Management and Building to boost the capacity and manpower need of the Ministry of Infrastructure, Lands and Housing.
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“The objective of HOCOS is to make land transactions and titling less cumbersome and transparent to the public through digitisation of processes. We are proud to say that we have achieved this objective.
“Rest assured that we would make the review of land administration policies a continuous process until we achieve perfection. I am glad to inform you that the HOCOS platform has brought about a turnaround in our land titling process with reduction in the unmitigated frustrations and nasty experiences of our people which were imposed by the activities of touts. We have been able to eradicate the associated bottlenecks and loss of revenue.
“The new single-leaf C of O distributed today has been designed with the highest technological standard, with the introduction of security features to protect the integrity of the document. It would also enable easy conduct of property search and prevent cyber fraud.
“It is gratifying to disclose that we have not compromised any extant law and professional standard guiding land titling or administration in the introduction of the new digitised certificate,” Governor Akeredolu said.
