The plots, according to a public notice issued by the Federal Capital Territory Administration on Wednesday, were revoked because the allottees failed to pay for their Certificates of Occupancy (C-of-O) before the 15 January deadline given to them.
Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma, his Bayelsa counterpart, Douye Diri, and Speaker of the House of Representatives Abbas Tajudeen are among the 568 Nigerians and firms whose plots of land in Abuja have been revoked on the fresh orders of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.
Also affected are the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President (Office of the Vice President), Ibrahim Hadejia; former governor of Cross River State, Ben Ayade; Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele; Senate Minority Leader, Abba Moro; Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha; Minister of State for Industry Trade and Investment, John Eno; Chairperson/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa; late Sports Minister Bala Kaoje, and Regina Akume, wife of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume,
Mr Wike also ordered the revocation of plots belonging to some serving and former federal lawmakers. They include Shehu Sani, Magnus Abe, David Umaru, Lanre Tejuoso, Oluwole Oke, Lynda Ikpeazu, Orker Jev, Agom Jarigbe, Nicholas Mutu, Gilbert Nnaji, Francis Onyewuchi and Abubakar Fulata.
Two persons -Nkoyo Onnoghen and Usang- relations of a former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen, are also on the list.
Some companies and agencies that lost their property include Abuja Enterprise Agency, Silver Proof Nigeria Limited, Sali-Tech Commercial Limited, Gimag Integrated Services Limited, and Earth Conscience Limited.
The 568 plots, according to a public notice issued by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) on Wednesday, were revoked because the allottees failed to pay for their Certificates of Occupancy (C-of-O) before the 15 January deadline given to them.
The FCTA said in the publication, “Notice of Withdrawal of Rights of Occupancy in Maitama II, Abuja, ” that it acted pursuant to the provisions of the Land Use Act 1978.
It said, “The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) wishes to inform the allottee (s) of land in Maitama II, Cadastral Zone A10, Abuja, who have failed to pay for their Certificate of Occupancy (C-of-O) bills after the expiration of grace period granted by the Honourable Minister, Federal Capital Territory that their Right of Occupancy to the land/property has been withdrawn, pursuant to the provisions of Section 28 of the Land Use Act of 1978 for contravention of the terms of grant which obligated the title/interest holders to settle all bills. The general public is, however, invited to note that allottees/title holders who have completed their payments on or before 15/01/25 are not affected by this publication.”
Previous revocations
The fresh revocation comes about three weeks after those 762 plots of land were similarly withdrawn from their allottees.
In December, PREMIUM TIMES reported that Messrs Onnoghen, Tajudeen, Ayade, and Akume were among prominent Nigerians whose plots were ordered revoked by the FCT Minister.
A foundation named after former President Muhammadu Buhari was also on the list.
Those on the former list affected by the latest revocation include Wole Oke, Lynda Ikpeazu, Orker Jev, and Agom Jarigbe.
The minister also threatened to withdraw the R-of-O of 614 others.
The plots are located in Maitama 1, District, a high-brow area of the nation’s capital.
Earlier in October, Mr Wike threatened to revoke the plots of 3,273 allottees in the Maitama District. At the time, he gave them two weeks to pay up.
In August, the minister announced the revocation of the C-of-O of 165 plots.
Some of those who lost their plots in that exercise were the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, Peter Obi; a former governor of Cross River State, Liyel Imoke; a former Minister of National Planning, Udo Udoma; a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Ufot Ekaette; a former Edo North senator, Victor Oyofo; and the late publisher of the Leadership newspaper, Sam Nda-Isaiah.
Others were a former Supreme Court justice and Chairman of the 2005 National Conference, Niki Tobi; a former Attorney General of the Federation, Kanu Agabi; Chidinma, wife of a former Aviation Minister, Osita Chidoka; and Paul Nwabiukwu, media aide to the Director General of WTO, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
Sanitisation
Upon resumption of office in August,
Mr Wike, a former governor of Rivers State, vowed to sanitise the land allocation system in Abuja.
“When we make the right decision, some people will be happy, and some will not. The rich will kick against some of our decisions, but anything that will help our people must be done,” he said.
The minister also pegged the cost of obtaining a C-of-O at N5 million, with a four-month window for payment.
Comment here
You must be logged in to post a comment.