*Says land acquired fraudulently, not pushed by sentiments
By Daniel Tyokua
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike has justified the revocation of 215 hectares of land allocated to Nicholas Ukachukwu for mass housing at Kugbo hill in Asokoro area of Abuja.
He said the land which was approved by director land Federal Capital Territory Administration in connivance with some officials sometime in 2023 has been converted to other use.
Wike disclosure this on Tuesday during a live media parley monitored by The AUTHORITY in Abuja.
The minister regretted why developers or organisations will apply for mass housing land and converted it to other use, some keep reselling to individuals which violate the guideline.
He said bringing sentiment into the revocation as being promoted by Ukachukwu and others was not correct.
Wike explained that collecting the land back has nothing to do with either the owner is an Igbo man or taking over of Igbo property.
He asked that, “if we hate Igbo, how comes that the first chairman of FCT Civil Service Commission is an Igbo man.
“Let us do the right thing and forget about sentiment and ethnicity. Wike hate Igbo or is against Igbo does not make meaning, let the right thing be done”
Recall that Wike had before the Senate committee on FCT, said on assumption of office in FCT, he was shocked to discover that land racketeering has remained endemic in Abuja because the notorious syndicate was Collaborating with FCT lawyers in court.
He stated that it was not just shocking, but also embarrassing that the lawyers were always losing simple land cases in court.
According to him, more worrisome was the fact that FCTA gets over one thousand five hundred land cases monthly.
He added that he has vowed not to allow any lawyer who is a staff of the administration, to represent it in any court over land cases.
Wike equally expressed concerns over another discovery that directors in the Land Department, were involved in arbitrary land allocations, which gave rise to the court cases.
