For almost 4 years Lagosians have been waiting to catch a glimpse of the New Lagos Electronic Certificate of Occupancy (e- C of O) to replace the old Bulky Yellow one in circulation that could easily be cloned.

I am happy to say omonilelawyer.com has finally obtained a copy of the new E-C of O and we are very excited with what we have seen. Here is an Exclusive first Look of all the New Features and additions to make the new Electronic Certificate of Occupancy more Secure and Fraud proof.

The main thing about this new E-C of O is that it is no longer a huge and bogus Yellow Document that looks like this:

AN OLD LAGOS STATE GOVERNMENT  CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY

It now comes in the form of a simple deed of assignment or contract that is binded so as to make it very easy to carry around and more aesthestically pleasing. This new E-C of O comes with the following features:

1. It has the Picture of the Owner of the C of O scanned and printed on the Paper other than the previous one that has a real passport photograph of the owner. Previous complaints of the picture format used in the Old C of O includes fraudsters mutilating the pictures and replacing them with other people's pictures that they intend to use to deceive a willing buyer who did not conduct a proper search. With this new scanned picture format, it will be very difficult to alter the E-C of O without raising any suspicions.

The picture of the owner of the E-C of O has been electronically scanned on the paper document and is visible to all from the onset the moment you come across an E-C of O.

2. Secondly there is an Encrypted enhanced 2D bar code on the C of O that is only Unique to the Owner of that C of O. This additional Security Characteristic embedded in the C of O contains vital security information that can only be viewed with an enabled barcode reader  that is unique to only the owner of this C of O.

It has its own Unique 2d Bar Code printed on it that is exclusive to the owner of the E-C of O

3. Thirdly the C of O number is now very distinguishable and very legible for all to see. Now an interesting thing about this new Electronic C of O is that it is now done in the form of a contract. It now has a  transaction page that will list all the transactions and encumbrances that have taken place on the land in question, and will be inside the body of the C of O.

This enables one to immediate determine the history of the land in question and a host of vital information with regards the owner of the E-C of O. Examples of such information needed includes whether it is a land for residential purposes or commercial, how many years the C of O was granted to the holder, the survey plan number, date the E-C of O was issued etc.

The New E-C of O number is very distinguishable

4. Fourthly the New E-C of O has made it more complex for Land fraudsters or people who intend to short change the government in processing it by making sure the Governor or its representative, the commissioner of stamp duties and the Registrar of titles to sign the E-C of O together on the Same page.

Without these signatures, its virtually impossible for it to pass as a Good or reputable Document. These 3 important figures must assent to the transaction that led to the processing of this C of O and all the proper fees, taxes and requirements must be made and or paid before they sign it.

It must have the Signature of the Governor or his Representative

It must have the Signature of the Commissioner of Stamp Duties to show that the owner of the E-C of O has properly paid his Stamp Duty dues

It must have the Signature of the Registrar of Titles to show that the E-C of O has passed all the requirements needed to register the document.

5. Finally, it has an additional set of 3 2d Barcodes below the signatures to identify true ownership of the Certificate of Occupancy. These Barcodes are unique to the owner more especially since this page contains the signatures of these 3 powerful people that deal with with the issuance of the E-C of O and could be subject to abuse, forgery and alteration if not properly guarded against since they are all on the same page.

It has 3 more Unique 2D Barcodes on the last page that has the signatures of the Governor, Commissioner of Stamp Duties and Registrar of Titles to help prevent fraud

It should be noted that owners of the Old Yellow C of O should not panic and assume that their documents are no longer valuable land Instruments. It can still be used to conduct transactions with individuals or corporations but when the time is right, the Government will request the holders of these Old C of Os to come and exchange them for the new ones.

So for those of you looking forward to obtaining that C of O for your land, things are going to be made much much easier for you and you will be eligible for this new one but you need to be patient because the Government has hundreds of thousands of these C of Os to issue to old and new Subscribers.

All in all,  it is  a very good development in Lagos to solve this land scam menance and forging of C of Os and we at Omonile Laywer  are very impressed with the look and feel of this new E-C of O more especially with regards with the anti-cloning features put into place to prevent land scammers in Lagos from using this new E-Cof O to defraud potential innocent Land purchasers.

For those interested in knowing the requirements needed for obtaining  the new E-C of O, i will advise you to read   the new requirements for obtaining the latest e-C of O.

Cheers