Business
Kogi, C’River Sign Pact On Land Allocation Framework
A team from Kogi State Systematic land Titling and Registration (SLTR), has visited the Cross River Geographic Information Agency (CRGIA) to study its mode of operation and services.
Addressing the team at the conference hall of CRGIA, the Director General, Dr. Clement Oshaka, informed them that Governor Liyel Imoke established the Agency in 2011 for the purpose of managing land problems in the State.
The Director General said that CRGIA’s objective was to improve the process of land registration in order to get the maximum area of land registered.
Oshaka named the participating government entities to include; office of the Surveyor General of the State and Ministry of Land, adding that, CRGIA has a clear mandate to interface with the public, government and its agencies towards implementation of land administration reforms.
He maintained that CGIA also makes use of automated land Information System in the achievement of a very high standard of survey regulation and service deliver that could compete favourable with any other system in the world.
Earlier in her remarks, the Kogi State SLTR team leader, Hajiya Ramatu Umar, informed the Director General that their mission to the state was to have first-hand knowledge of how CRGIA was integrating the State SLTR programme into the conventional land system, its sustainability, benefits and the possibilities of making it work in Kogi State.
She enumerated other areas of interest to include the relationship between the survey department with lands and the Ministry of Works.
The Director General highlighted the services of CRGIA among others to include; issuance of digital bankable and tamper-proof certificate of occupancy within twenty one days, processing application and allocation for government lands, conducting fast and efficient searches, providing a one-stop shop for land transactions, ownership and management in Cross River State and production of certified true copies of registered deeds.
High point of the visit was question and answer session, while the team undertook a facility tour of the various departments of the Agency.
Friday Nwagbara, Calabar
Business
Agency Gives Insight Into Its Inspection, Monitoring Operations
Business
BVN Enrolments Rise 6% To 67.8m In 2025 — NIBSS
The Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) has said that Bank Verification Number (BVN) enrolments rose by 6.8 per cent year-on-year to 67.8 million as at December 2025, up from 63.5 million recorded in the corresponding period of 2024.
In a statement published on its website, NIBSS attributed the growth to stronger policy enforcement by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the expansion of diaspora enrolment initiatives.
NIBSS noted that the expansion reinforces the BVN system’s central role in Nigeria’s financial inclusion drive and digital identity framework.
Another major driver, the statement said, was the rollout of the Non-Resident Bank Verification Number (NRBVN) initiative, which allows Nigerians in the diaspora to obtain a BVN remotely without physical presence in the country.
A five-year analysis by NIBSS showed consistent growth in BVN enrolments, rising from 51.9 million in 2021 to 56.0 million in 2022, 60.1 million in 2023, 63.5 million in 2024 and 67.8 million by December 2025. The steady increase reflects stronger compliance with biometric identity requirements and improved coverage of the national banking identity system.
However, NIBSS noted that BVN enrolments still lag the total number of active bank accounts, which exceeded 320 million as of March 2025.
The gap, it explained, is largely due to multiple bank accounts linked to single BVNs, as well as customers yet to complete enrolment, despite the progress recorded.
