The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike has vowed to stop anybody from taking land belonging to the territory without approval.
Wike stated this while handing over 50 operational vehicles to security agencies in the FCT, in Abuja on Thursday.
The minister, who decried the activities of land grabbers in the territory, said, “We will stop anybody who thinks he can obtain government land for whatever reason without formal approval.
“We will not look at your face. If you like, you can be a civil rights activist; If you like, you can be a television talker. What is wrong is wrong.
“No amount of blackmail can stop us.”
Mr Lere Olayinka, Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media to Wike, had on Wednesday refuted allegations of land grabbing against the FCT Administration.
Olayinka in a statement explained that someone in a video being circulated on social media has claimed that the FCTA has grabbed land belonging to a construction company.
He said that the said land is located in Life Camp, Plot 2241, Gwarinpa District, Cadastral Zone C02, Abuja.
He explained that a construction company, Paulosa Nigeria Ltd occupied the land as a temporary office, under a temporary R of O granted in 1984, about 40 years ago.
Olayinka had challenged those circulating the falsehood about their lands being grabbed by the FCTA to provide Right of Occupancy (R of O) or Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) granted by the FCTA.
Sharing this view, the minister said that if the government gave a construction company a temporary site, the land does not automatically belong to the company after executing the project.
“Show me the document that the land belongs to you.
“I am not the kind of person that you will scare by going on television, claiming that you have been living there for 20 years. So what? You are just a squatter.
“If your husband had a company who did a job for FCT and had a site to stay, that doesn’t make it your husband’s property; it doesn’t,” Wike said.
The minister said that he had published names of landowners in Abuja that were owing FCTA ground rent and other taxes.
Wike added that he would revoke the land of anybody that refuses to pay.
“All those who have not paid, who thought we are joking, I am going to revoke all. So, if you are sitting here, go and check your records.
“If you have not paid, I will give you time to pay. But once the time expires, forget it, I will revoke it, and I will give it to those who will pay,” Wike said.
He said that the current wage bill of workers in the FCTA was within the range of N13 billion and N14 billion per month.
This amount, the minister said, was grossly inadequate to pay salaries and implement capital projects.
He said that the FCT, therefore, depends largely on taxes and other Internally Generated Revenue to construct roads, renovate schools, improve health services and provide other services to residents.
Freedomonline reports that available documents on the Life Camp property shows that for 36 years, Paulosa Nigeria Ltd occupied the land, built permanent structures on it and rented them out without any approval from the government.
Although the company had on Nov.18, 2020, applied for the conversion of the temporary to statutory R of O, which was granted in February 2023 but subject to fulfilling certain terms and conditions.
However, 20 months after, the company did not comply with the terms and conditions for the approval and on Oct. 10, 2024, the approval was revoked.
