By Wumi Tewogbade,, Abuja

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, (FCT), Nyesom Wike, at the weekend, ordered the arrest of a suspected land grabber and the demolition of buildings illegally erected on plots originally allocated to foreign missions in the diplomatic zone of Katampe Extension, Abuja.

The affected land, situated within the Diplomatic Zone in Katampe Extension of the Federal Capital Territory, was allocated on March 18, 2008, to 10 diplomatic missions for residential purposes. A section of the land was also reserved for the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria for the construction of a 132/133KV power station.

The FCT Minister gave the direction when he spoke to the media during an inspection tour of ongoing infrastructure projects in Abuja,

Wike who was angry said it was discovered that an individual had unlawfully taken over the land and commenced construction without the approval of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA).

He said the Department of Development Control had been directed to immediately remove all illegal structures on the site.

Wike said, “This land was allocated to various embassies. Somebody just came here, took the land and started developing it on his own without approval from the FCDA. We cannot allow this kind of land invasion to continue,”

According to the minister, the affected plots were originally allocated to diplomatic missions, including those of Thailand, Bulgaria, Syria, Somalia, Serbia and Montenegro, Japan, Austria, Switzerland, Senegal, and the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Wike also confirmed that the suspected developer, Alhaji Kabiru Sahara, had been arrested and would be prosecuted after ongoing police investigations.
“The man has been arrested and he will be charged to court. The police are carrying out their investigations and he will be charged to court any moment from now,” the minister said.

Among the inspected infrastructure projects included the redesigned Abuja City Gate, the road linking Bill Clinton Drive at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport to the Tungan-Madaki community—now scheduled for extension to Zuba—and the road connecting Baze University, Body of Benchers, Nile University, and the Wupa Light Rail Station in the Idu area of Abuja.

He also inspected the construction of an Office Annex for the Body of Benchers.
Wike said many of the projects, being executed by firms such as Julius Berger Nigeria, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation and Levant Construction, would be completed in time for inauguration during the third anniversary of the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

According to the minister, the infrastructure projects form part of efforts by the FCT Administration to open up new communities and improve connectivity across the capital city.

He noted that residents of areas such as Tungan-Madaki had welcomed the projects, which they believe would improve access to the city and stimulate development in surrounding communities.

By Wumi Tewogbade, Abuja

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, on Thursday, said his administration is determined to provide infrastructure to open a new district, (Waru Pozema), in the shortest possible time.

Wike stated this after he inspectedi several ongoing projects across the Federal Capital Territory.

He added that he has been able to achieve so much in infrastructure development in FCT because of Mr. President’s support.

He said the administration would work with relevant agencies to see the possibility of providing basic infrastructure in the district, located in Cadastral Zone D16.

According to him, the FCT Administration will consult with the Federal Capital Development Authority and other relevant departments to determine the next steps, including whether the project is captured in the 2026 budget. “About the new district of Waru-Pozema in Cadastral Zone D16, we have to find out from the FCDA or the coordinator what they have in mind, whether it is in the 2026 budget,” he said. “Don’t worry, we will do everything we can to provide the needed infrastructure and open up the district so that people can move in.”

The minister also expressed satisfaction with the level of work on various judicial infrastructure projects inspected during the tour. He noted that the contractors handling the Court of Appeal complex assured that the project would be completed by May. He added that the judges’ quarters, including the Federal High Court section, had already been furnished.

Wike explained that the project comprises 10 duplexes for the Federal High Court, 20 duplexes for the FCT High Court and another 10 duplexes for the Court of Appeal, adding that the facilities would be inaugurated during the third anniversary of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in office.

The minister also inspected a major road project in Katampe, which he described as functioning like a ring road, and commended the contractor for the pace and quality of work. He praised construction firm China Geo‑Engineering Corporation, saying it was one of the companies whose commitments could be trusted. “It’s one of those companies—when they give you their word, you can go to the bank with it,” he said, expressing satisfaction with the level of supervision by the FCT Administration.

Speaking on his motivation for regularly inspecting projects, Wike said his commitment was driven by service and the confidence reposed in him by President Tinubu. “For the President to have confidence in you and give you an assignment, you have no choice but to be committed to the job,” he said.

On national politics, the minister called for unity within the Peoples Democratic Party, saying reconciliation within the party must come first before discussions about future electoral strategies. He expressed optimism that the party could remain competitive if members remained sincere in their reconciliation efforts, adding that attention was currently focused on the party’s forthcoming convention.

……..as the administration reads riot acts land levies defaulters

By Wumi Tewogbade, Abuja

The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), on Monday said it has concluded arrangements to procure communication gadgets and other equipment for security agencies in the FCT to the sum of 1,133,802,500 Naira only.

This was revealed after the 18th Executive Committee(EXCO), chaired by the Minister of FCT, Nyesom Wike, in Abuja.

The equipment is meant to support and bridge the gap of equipment shortage meant for security agencies in the nation’s capital.

At the exco meeting, two other memos were also approved, which include the ratification of contract for the provision of waste collection and management services in four delineated districts and ratification and award of contract for the procurement of food and non-food items to support flood-affected persons in FCT.

While briefing the media after the meeting, the Coordinator, Abuja Metropolitan Management Council, (AMMC), Felix Amaechi Obuah, said

” In today’s EXCO, we did present and seek the ratification of two memos that were graciously approved by the EXCO.

“The first memo was the memo seeking the approval and ratification of contract for the provision of waste collection and management services in four delineated districts of the Federal Capital City and the supply of AGO diesel to Wupa Basic Waste Treatment Plant, for the period of two years. The total figure for the award of these four contracts amounted to 7.3 billion Naira.

“The second memo was the memo seeking for ratification and award of contract for the procurement of food and non-food items to support flood-affected persons in FCT. This memo too was graciously approved”.

Director of FCT Procurement, Musa Idris, in his briefing on procurement for equipment for security agencies said it is an emergency procurement and it would help FCT Security Agency in carrying out their assignment within the territory.

He said, “In today’s EXCO meeting, the EXCO have approved and ratified award of contract for the emergency procurement of communication gadgets and other equipment for FCT Security Agency in the sum of 1,133,802,500 Naira only.

“The essence of this project is to support the FCT Security Agency in carrying out their assignment within the territory. The equipment are meant to support them because when His Excellency, the FCT Minister came on board, he discovered that there was a gap of the equipment of what he met.

“Now, with the support of these gadgets, the FCT Security Agency were able to do their work diligently”.

Director,Land Administration, FCTA, Chijioke Nwankwoeze, spoke on land use contraventions, and called on all defaulters to come and pay the necessary levies.

He threatened that enforcement will soon commence and defaulters would be spared.

On those who applied for Certificate Of Occupancy, he said, “As we are aware, certificates of occupancy issuance to property owners in Abuja have greatly improved in terms of the time it takes to get that produced and released.

“Gone are the days when you pay for C-of-O, you wait years, in some cases decades, to have your certificate produced and issued to you.

“Now, whether it was an old grant or recent grants made by the Minister, as long as you pay your certificate of occupancy bill, you could have your C-of-O within a time period as short as one week, the Minister does not waste time in signing C-of-Os. Once we send those C-of-Os to him, within a day or two, they are back and they will be ready to be released to the allottees. But I want to let the public know something that might delay production of their C-of-O.

“Some people may pay, it will take a week, two weeks, one month, and they will be asking, what are the reasons why my C-of-O is not being produced? The same person that got land with me at the same time has got his C-of-O, mine is not ready. There are a number of reasons. At the point of opening a file, that is, making an application for land, you are expected to submit your passport photograph. Those photographs are embossed on the C-of-O. So if you did not submit them, you will be unable to produce the C-of-O. That is one of the reasons.

“Another reason is, when an offer of statutory right of occupancy is made to you, it remains an offer and there won’t be any contract until you accept. Alongside the offer of the statutory right of occupancy being given to you is a document which we call a letter of acceptance. You are expected to complete the letter of acceptance, sign it, and bring it back to us within 21 days of granting that right of occupancy. Without letter of acceptance, we cannot proceed to prepare C-of-O.

“So it’s important that the public knows that submission of letter of acceptance is fundamental to any further processing of your title, in this case, production of the certificate of occupancy. Without returning the letter of acceptance to us, we cannot produce your C-of-O.

“So some of them that may be concerned about delays in issuance of their C-of-O should approach the Land Department to find out why. First of all, check your documents and see that you have filled the form, the letter of acceptance, and you’ve submitted it to us. Also be sure that payment has been made. Some people don’t know that generation of remita number is not payment. You could generate remita invoice, but if the payment has not been made, it will not drop. Invoice is not the same thing as receipt. So make sure you proceed with the process until remita gives you what is called remitter payment receipt. At that point, the money would have come into our account and then we would be able to proceed further”.

He noted, “We have to let the public know that they need to play their part before we can produce your C-of-O. You have to bring your passport photograph. It has to be with us. It has to be in the records. You have to submit letter of acceptance, and you must make sure that your address on the form is correct. Nothing like post P.O. Box. Some people just put the address, P.O. Box is not an address. The address of the applicant must be an address that can be processed, not P.O. Box. So these are things we want the public to know, and for them to also know that people can get their C-of-Os in a very short while. Within a week, be assured to get your C-of-O if you comply with all the requirements”.

“With respect to land use contraventions, over which the administration took very bold steps to convert some properties from their former land uses to their current uses, there have been some compliance. It’s not total yet. There are still people who are still in contravention.

“Of course, the administration will do its enforcement on those properties and that could include seelinghe properties, revocation of the titles, and anything else. I know that any moment from now, the administration will begin to carry out its enforcement actions on those properties.

“The administration has been lenient on the allottees, the property owners, giving them good enough time within which to make those payments. These are properties allocated to them for various land uses. And without any approval of any sort, they converted them into uses that they prefer, and probably that is paying them better than what was originally granted.

“So we’ve now told you, okay, we are formalizing these things for you. Come and pay us this amount so that you continue to have undisturbed use of those properties, and you are not coming. Whatever the administration decides to do, nobody will blame it. Some have complied. Some have not, like I said”.

He also used the opportunity to urged those owing the administration on ground rent to pay up because monies are used to provide infrastructure and maintain the city city.