Rent and Tenancy Reform in Abuja

Rapid urbanisation, rising housing demand, and mounting affordability pressures have placed significant strain on Abuja's rental housing system. At the centre of this strain is a regulatory gap: the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has no comprehensive tenancy framework.

Abuja currently relies on the Recovery of Premises Act, legislation focused almost entirely on eviction procedures. It offers little guidance on the broader issues that shape a tenant's experience: how rent is set, how disputes are resolved, or how landlords and tenants are expected to conduct themselves. This gap has real consequences: exploitative rental practices, excessive advance rent demands, weak tenant protections, and limited access to affordable dispute resolution mechanisms.

Lagos offers a useful point of comparison. Since 2011, the state has operated under the Lagos State Tenancy Law, a structured framework that regulates rent practices and tenancy relationships more comprehensively than anything currently available in Abuja.

This policy brief presents findings from a comparative assessment of tenancy governance in the two cities. It examines how Lagos's framework functions in practice, where its strengths and limitations lie, and what elements could realistically be adapted for the FCT. The aim is not to import a template, but to identify reform options that are practical and institutionally feasible, reforms that fit Abuja's specific governance structures and can be implemented with the institutions already in place.