By Daniel Tyokua
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nyesom Wike has blamed some directors in the Federal Capital Territory Administration for wrong happenings in the land administration system.
He named the directors of Abuja Geographic Information System (AGIS), Department of Development Control, Urban and Regional Planning, land administration, surveying and mapping and mass housing as those aiding land use contravention.
Wike disclosed this on Tuesday, during the inauguration of Task Force on the issuance of Certificate of Occupancy for mass housing and the recovery of land use contravention fees.
He said the task force was constituted to provide the enabling force that will ensure sanity in land administration of the FCT.
According to him, most plots approved for residential houses have been converted to commercial purposes without the consent of the administration, and would not be accepted.
Wike, who gave the task force one month to complete the assignment, said each of the houses in the mass housing must have a C of O and should be paid for.
He said those who got approval for residential but converted it to commercial use will be forced to do the right thing.
Wike said: “Those who have been given approval for commercial purposes and convert it to residential without recertification will face penalty.
“The Task Force is to make sure that all the mass housing in the city, each of them should have C of O , then those who have contravened, those that were given approval for residential and converted it to commercial, those who have been given for commercial housing and violated by building residential should know that there must be a recertification and penalty.
“In as much as we want to generate revenue, we also want to control the system. Abuja has to go back to the original master plan, if there is the need to have some amendments, it is the government that will do it.
“Part of the problems we are having is Department of Development Control, AGIS, Urban and Regional planning, they are part of the problems, that is why we brought them together to solve it, no outsider will do it”
The committee would be chaired by Mr Michael Chinda, Senior Special Assistant to Wike on lands, urban and regional planning.
The Executive Secretary, Federal Capital Development Authority, Mr Shehu Ahmad would serve as the secretary.
Responding on behalf of the members, Chinda expressed the readiness of the task force team to get to work and promised not to disappoint the minister.
The chairman further promised to deliver on the task within a month.
He described C of O as an “indispensable requirement” for land ownership, adding that the land belongs to the government and the people using it must pay.
“We will not spare anyone that has contravene and we will do the needful
“I can assure you that we will do this job with precision, diligence and a high level of professionalism so that we will meet your expectation and possibly exceed it,” he said.
