By Daniel Tyokua
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nyesom Wike, has turned down an appeal of the Nigerian Customs Service for waiver on the revocation of its land.
He told a team of the Nigeria Customs Service, led by the Acting Comptroller-General, Bashir Adeniyi, who paid a courtesy visit to his office on Thursday, that the Service would have to pay penalties, to reclaim the land
Wike faulted the failure of the Nigerian Customs to develop the land after it had been given by the FCT, adding that when the certificate of ownership of the land is reissued, the Service must also pay ground rent.
“Frankly speaking, we’ll look at it and see what we can do. Whether you are going to pay a penalty, you’ll pay a penalty. That is what we are going to do”,
Wike, however approved a piece of land for the establishment of primary and secondary schools, for children of staff of the Nigerian Customs Service in the Federal Capital Territory, stating that the approval would be on the condition that the NCS would commit to developing the land within a time frame, failure of which would lead to the repossession of the given land.
“Be rest assured that I am going to approve the land for the school. You bring the application; I will sign it and give it to the Director of Lands to give you the land that you can use. Schools are very important. It is not only the children of customs officers that will attend the schools.
“My policy now is that before we give land to any agency, it must commit that it will develop the land within a certain number of years, and if not, the FCT should take back the land. I will not allocate land that will lay till thy kingdom come. So, you must convince me that you are indeed serious about building schools for the children of your staff and our children”.
The Minister also said the approval would be on the condition that the Custom boss, agrees to pay the ground rent as and when due, adding that there would be no given notice for the payment of ground rents.
Earlier, the Acting CG of the NCS, Bashir Adeniyi, said the purpose of the visit was to congratulate Wike on his appointment as FCT Minister, and his achievements so far.
He described the Customs Service, as a critical stakeholder in the FCT, as up to 2,500 officers lived and contributed to the development of the FCT, while however stating that officers’ children could not access public schools and were under pressure at private schools, hence the request for a land to build primary and secondary schools for children of staff.
