Obaseki’s land reform: EDOGIS opens for business, assures on customer-friendly services

Managing Director, Edo Geographic Information Service (EDOGIS), Arch. Frank Evbuomwan, has said the agency will open for business to members of the public, from Monday, September 17, assuring of world class customer-friendly service.

Evbuomwan, in a chat with journalists, said EDOGIS has deployed a fully automated root-to-leaf system to collect, collate, verify and digitise all geospatial data and is responsible for issuing Certificate of Occupancy (C-of-O).

He said individuals and groups who have reasons to transact business with the agency are advised to visit EDOGIS, located at No. 102 Sapele Road, by former Water Board Building, Benin City.

According to him, “EDOGIS is the successor government agency to the erstwhile Ministry of Lands and Surveys (later known as Lands Bureau) and is the only  government agency charged with the responsibility for land administration, management, registrations, geo-mapping and surveys, in Edo State in accordance with the Edo State Land Administration and Geographic Information Service Law, 2018 and as stipulated in the Land Use Act 1990 (Section 4b).

He said the issuance of C-of-Os would transform the economy, noting “The state government now recognises your ownership of land; a third-party can no longer claim the land. This would make it easy to conduct land transactions, whether you want to use it to raise finance from the bank, sell or lease it. There is reliable information available now for investors. This will drive up the ease of doing business in the state.”

Evbuomwan explained said the streamlined approach to land administration will solve land-related communal clashes, especially when every community registers their land. “Everyone will know the extent of their land and as the community decides to dispose of their land either by selling or by leasing, the necessary information will be recorded in our servers. With this, we will be able to provide you with real time, accurate data on the land.”