We now have capacity to sign 2,000 Certificates of Occupancy in a day – Gov. Abiodun

Governor of Ogun state, Dapo Abiodun has disclosed that his administration has acquired an Electronic Certificate of Occupancy equipment that could sign 2,000 Certificates of Occupancy per day.

He stated this on Tuesday while hosting the board and management of the Oodua Investment Company Limited, led by its Group Chairman, Otunba Bimbo Ashiru in his office at Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.

He said that his administration had to sanitize the entire land bureau of the state with the appointment of a tested hand to ensure the smooth running of the office, adding that his administration is fast tracking the processes so as to also ensure that the reforms reflect who the state is.

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“People are buying land; they are speculating. We have issues of land speculators. We had to practically shut down our lands department for a while and appointed somebody new to oversee the land administration in the state.

“We have a backlog of Certificate of Occupancy (CofO) and today, I think, we are the first state to implement our ‘Electronic Certificate of Occupancy’ equipment that has a machine that can sign 2,000 certificates of occupancy in a day because it is important for you to have your CofO.

“These are the kind of things that have been a clog in the wheel in the past and we are ensuring that we fast-track these processes so as to also ensure that the reforms reflect who we are,” he said.

The Governor also noted that his administration has come up with an inter-ministerial business environment council saddled with the responsibility of ensuring that investors don’t find it difficult to set up businesses in the state adding that the state is number three in internally generated revenue in the country.

He commended the new management team of the south west states owned oodua investment company limited for the sense of creativity, direction and purpose.

Governor Abiodun noted that he and the other South-West governors adopted a non-interference approach in the company in order to reposition the conglomerate to reflect the true worth of the people of the zone.

He said: “I want to recall that in 2019 when I assumed office, my colleagues and I sat and we decided that it was high time we began the process of repositioning Odu’a and that the present Odu’a at that time did not reflect the quality of us as a people of the South-West.

“We decided that no longer would we want an Odu’a where the members that represent the various states are just politicians; that we would ensure that we have members that are fit for purpose, and also that we should ensure that even the management itself and the directors are professionally recruited so that they can complement the board.

“Today’s Odu’a is a complete departure, night and day from what Odu’a used to be.

“I want to commend your sense of creativity, direction, purpose, sincerity, and commitment to all that you signed up to do, and we are very happy with the results we have seen.

“Because of that, all the governors have adopted a non-interference approach; we have decided not to interfere with you. We are happy with what we are seeing.”

Earlier in his remarks, Otunba Ashiru commended the governors of member states for appointing capable hands into various boards of the company, noting that the issue of diversification is very key to the company.

Ashiru also disclosed that the company has been given a license for the marginal field, noting that Odu’a Investment Company is on the verge of becoming an oil-producing organization in the country.

The group chairman, who noted that the company is looking at having an industrial park along the interchange, added that a Chinese company is on the verge of investing in the power sector of the South West with an interest in 1000 megawatts per state of the zone.