A software company, Nugi Technologies, has pledged to improve transparency, reduce processing time, and curb fraud in land administration through its digital land registry solution, addressing persistent delays in obtaining Certificates of Occupancy (C of O) in Nigeria.
Cross River State Adopts 360Lands Platform
The company disclosed that Cross River State is addressing these dysfunctions through 360Lands, a digital land registry developed in partnership with Nugi Technologies. According to the firm, Nigeria’s land administration system has long been hindered by bureaucratic bottlenecks, weak record-keeping, and overlapping ownership claims. It noted that while the 1978 Land Use Act was introduced to simplify land ownership by vesting control in state governors, the system has instead become slow, opaque, and susceptible to corruption.
The company lamented that applicants for land titles are often required to pass through multiple agencies for documentation, verification, and payment, resulting in delays that can last for years and creating opportunities for document forgery and disputes.
How 360Lands Works
Chief Executive Officer of Nugi Technologies, Ajoke Akinlabi, said the 360Lands platform replaces paper-based processes with a digital registry where applications for C of O can be submitted online or at designated physical offices. He explained that documents are uploaded, validated, and immediately assigned reference numbers, while payments are automatically calculated based on land size. He noted that certificates issued through the platform also carry QR codes that enable instant verification against government records.
“Once your C of O is digitally created, no matter where you take it to, if it’s authentic, it’s authentic because it is now on the government database,” Akinlabi said. He added that beyond processing C of O, the platform also handles applications for building permits, survey plans, and Governor’s Consent for land transactions.
According to him, the system integrates the Ministry of Lands, the Cross River State Geographic Information Agency, the Surveyor General’s Office, and the Department of Physical Planning into a single digital platform, allowing information to flow seamlessly among the agencies. Field officers, he said, use mobile devices to capture information on land ownership, size, and usage, creating a searchable database of properties that were previously undocumented.
Revenue Generation and GIS Integration
The company noted that the digital registry is expected to strengthen revenue generation by identifying properties that were previously outside the tax net, enabling automated billing for ground rents and other statutory charges. It also disclosed that the platform has been integrated with a Geographic Information System (GIS), allowing land parcels to be viewed on satellite maps to support the verification of ownership claims and assist in resolving boundary disputes.
Collaboration with Financial Institutions
Akinlabi said Nugi Technologies is also working with financial institutions to integrate the system into their lending processes. “We are working with banks to see how they can adopt this so that citizens don’t have to go through stress when they need loans. All the bank has to do is call up the system. When you scan the QR code on the new C of O, it brings up the C of O,” he said.
Progress and Challenges
The company disclosed that since the implementation of the platform in Cross River State, 330 applications have been processed, comprising 188 Certificates of Occupancy and 142 consent applications. According to the firm, processing time has been reduced from years to weeks once applicants complete documentation and payment requirements, while the digital system provides an audit trail that reduces the risk of files being altered or going missing.
Despite the progress, Nugi Technologies acknowledged that digitisation alone cannot resolve all land disputes. The company noted that while the system can document competing ownership claims, their resolution still depends on the courts and government enforcement. It also pointed to the challenge of migrating decades of incomplete or conflicting land records into the new digital infrastructure.
Akinlabi further observed that public reliance on intermediaries and resistance to change within parts of the civil service remain obstacles to wider adoption. “Citizens are too reliant on middlemen. They would rather pay more to get things done faster. We need to find a way to move into a process-driven society,” he said.
The company added that although the platform has the potential to be adopted across Nigeria, nationwide implementation would require institutional commitment, staff training, and sustained government support, as land administration systems differ from one state to another.
