Metro
FCTA to give communication equipment worth N1.1b to security agencies in Abuja
……..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.
Wumi Tewogbade,Abuja
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, at the weekend, launched a grassroots social mobilisation exercise to promote birth registration in the FCT.
The Mandate Secretary, FCT Women Affairs Secretariat, Adedayo Benjamins-Laniyi, launched the programme in Abuja,.
She said birth registration is aimed to address the low level of birth registration, especially children that are born outside the health center in the rural areas.
The exercise, is in collaboration with UNICEF Nigeria, Nigeria Population Commission (NPC), Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON), National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), and National Orientation Agency (NOA), .
The Mandate Secretary who was
represented by Director, Child Development Department, Dr Idris Yahaya Attah, emphasised the importance of birth registration.
The Mandate Secretary said, the initiative, was in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda, aims to ensure every child is registered and documented, paving way for a brighter future.
“A lot of children are born outside hospitals and in remote communities. These children need to be properly captured and documented as citizens of the FCT and Nigeria”, She said.
Benjamins-Laniyi stressed that accurate data is crucial for planning and development, urging Abaji communities to cooperate with the FCT Administration to ensure they benefit from democratic dividends. UNICEF Nigeria, represented by Mrs Phydelia Abbas, is supporting this initiative.
The exercise, which began on March 26, will cover all Area Councils, with the following schedule:
- Abaji – March 26, 2026 (completed)
- Bwari – March 30, 2026
- Kwali – April 8, 2026
- Gwagwalada- April 9, 2026
- Kuje- April 10, 2026
- AMAC – April 13, 2026
The registration is free for children aged 0-1 year and 1-5 years. .
….as treatment success rates 94%
By Wumi Tewogbade,Abuja
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) revealed at the weekend that Abuja has over 16,000 annual burden of Tuberculosis (TB) cases.
FCT Director Public Health, Dr Dan Gasama , stated this at the community outreach in commemoration of 2026 World Tuberculosis Day, organized by the Federal Capital Territory Health Services and Environment Secretariat (FCT-HSES), Stop TB Partnership Nigeria, National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Programme (NTBLCP),and other partners, in Abuja.
Gasama added that, the treatment success rate for Tuberculosis (TB) in Nigeria is now 94 percent when detected early.
The theme for 2026 celebrations ‘Yes, we can. We can end TB’.
People trooped out in their hundreds from Mabushi community and they were screened and tested for TB, Malaria, etc, and people were given free medications for malaria and some other minor ailments, some were refered to bigger hospitals.
Gasama said, TB remain one of the world’s oldest infectious diseases, and a public health concern globally and nationally, despite being preventable and curable, it continues to claim lives and disrupt families and communities.
He noted, “An estimated 10.7 million people fell ill with TB in 2014, with1.23 million deaths including 150,000 deaths among people with HIV.
“With prevalence of 219/100,000, Nigeria remain one of the countries with high TB burden , and FCT also has estimated annual burden of 16,000 cases.
“The country notified over 467,000in 2025 , the highest ever in our history. Treatment success rate have reached an impressive 94%, demonstrating that when TB is detected early and treated properly, it can be cured .
Additionally TB mortality has been reduced by 63% between 2015 -2024″, Dr. Dan said.
He said in FCT in 2025, FCT-TBLCP recorded it highest achievement to date, over 40,171 presumptive TB clients were identified and screened while 3,679 TB cases were notified the highest in history.
He noted that one of the unique commemorations of this year is the dedication to high-burden communities, where they take the message to their doorsteps.
The in her goodwill message, Dr. Jenny Momoh, who represented Dr. Jibrin Alkasim, the FCT state coordinator for World Health Organisation (WHO), said reiterated the commitment of the world body to eradicating TB completely. Which according to her is visible when countries, communities, and partners unite with purpose and determination.
WHO commended all the health workers and partners for their determination, supports and commitment, that has helped to save lives.
“Despite the challenges, we have seen remarkable advances in diagnostics, treatment options, digital tools, and community‑centered care. Yet millions still face barriers to timely diagnosis and quality treatment. This is why our collective action remains essential. Ending TB requires sustained investment, innovation, and a strong multisectoral response that leaves no one behind”, she noted .
Teresa Jatau, who spoke on behalf of National Coordinator TB network, in her goodwill message said, she is very happy with the turnout of people for the programme.
She reiterated the need for all hands to be on desk in order to completely eradicate TB on Nigeria.
She also remind Nigerians that TB affect children as well, “By collectively working together and collectively amplifying the voices of the community, amplifying the voices of even children. Oftentimes we have conversations about TB, but we neglect the children. But here, we should be reminded that children too are often affected by TB. And so they should be at the center of our conversation”.
She said TB network is committed to continue to do the work at the community level to ensure that everyone gets the information, the correct information, knows where to go to and seek care in case they are tested positive.
By Wumi Tewogbade, Abuja
The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), has reiterated its commitment in ensuring justice and rights of Persons Living With Disabilities (PWDs) in Abuja.
The Mandate Secretary, FCT Women Affairs Secretariat, Adedayo Benjamins-Laniyi stated this during the Celebration of IWD 2026 with 250 Persons living With Disabilities ( PWDs) at the Bamishe Community in Kuje Area Council.
She said, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu,
through The Renewed Hope Initiative Programme is particular about not leaving anyone behind; and hence the Theme of International Women’s Day 2026; Justice. Rights & Action for all women and girls, is very timely.
Benjamins-Laniyi, who was represented by Head, Women Affairs Department, Mrs Aina Sanni said, FCT Women Affairs Secretariat has concluded arrangement to initiating a pioneer community intervention collecting & collating the data of Women and Girls with disabilities so in order to enhance the administration’s engagement with Vulnerable Groups.
According to her, ” There’s ability in Disability. All it takes it the right tools and empowerment and political will. We have so many of you that are graduates because you had access to Braille, Sign language, mobility and other devices that made it easy for you to feel empowered”.
She continued that those who are educated amongst them can empower others who are not by ensuring that they learn a skill.
She added that with the achievement of The PWDs Community, it obvious that there’s ability in Disability for those ready to explore.
Ms. Justina Janet Agesepa, a person with vision impairment praised The FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, on the ongoing Road infrastructure.
She said this is what is needed because most of the PWDs live in areas where it is difficult for them to be reached due to lack of access Road.
Ms Agesepa said They also need employment for the Graduates in their midst and empowerment for the Women.
Speaking in Hausa, Mallam Luka Kura from Cheta said the Challenge they faced is lack of Access Road and Borehole.He said the Water they are drinking is not hygienic and called on the Government to remember them.
At the end of the program, packs of Foodstuff, Rice and Garri were distributed amongst the participants who thanked the FCT Administration for reaching out to them.
Some of the Participants came all the way from the newly discovered Cheta Disability Community as beneficiaries of the WAS IWD program designed to spotlight, encourage and inspire Women & Girls Living With Disabilities in The Federal Capital Territory Administration
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