‘HomeOwner scheme is an amnesty’

The Ogun State Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Otunba Bimbo Ashiru, has described the four-year-old HomeOwner scheme of the state government as an “amnesty” that allows owners of buildings and landed properties in the state to get the Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) at discounted rates.

Ashiru disclosed this yesterday at the presentation of another batch of 1000 C of O to beneficiaries in Abeokuta, the state capital.

The commissioner, who was the special guest at the ceremony, enjoined applicants to be patient with the programme, assuring that whoever has followed all due processes would get the C of O and other landed

documents offers.

“I want to appeal to you to be patient with the government. This scheme, where about 70 per cent cost has been removed, is like an amnesty for us to get our land documents.

“When you build without approval on the building, we all know this is wrong. But this government is offering you an amnesty instead of punishing you, and is asking you to pay an amount much lesser than the regular amount.

“That is an amnesty. It shows that the government is sensitive to the yearnings of the people and that is what is expected of a responsive government,” Ashiru said.

Some of the beneficiaries, a couple, Mr and Mrs Oseni Olatunde Abiodun, expressed amazement over the reality of the scheme, four years after they registered.

The couple told our correspondent, “We have been waiting for about four years now, and about four weeks ago, we started receiving messages and calls. Until about a few minutes ago when we were called to receive our C of O, we still could not believe it. We want to say to the world that the Ogun HomeOwner scheme is real. If you do the right thing, you will get your documents.” that the scheme