By Daniel Tyokua
The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has accused most of the traditional rulers of illegal land transaction paving way for increasing shanties in the territory.
Chairman FCT Ministerial Committee on City Sanitation, Mr Ikharo Attah stated this during a demolition exercise at the weekend in Iddo Sarki, near University of Abuja permanent site.
He said, it was unfortunate that certain people have continued to ignore timely warnings to venture into land transaction with local Chiefs, without relevant government’s approval.
Attah stated that the millions of naira invested in constructing the illegal hostle blocks and other developmental projects on the land, would have been properly directed, had they complied with official procedures.
He added that the shortcut process undertaken by the investors had not only infringed heavily on extant laws, but distorted Abuja Master plan, while leading into collosal economic waste.
Though names of the traditional rulers and buyers were not mentioned, but Attah said the chiefs allegedly involved have denied that they never sold any land, while the buyers who insist they bought the land from the chiefs are now lamenting.
“We asked them to produce papers of approval, but none of them have done that. They said they bought the land between N2 million and N7 million. We have done this, because we have the mandate to secure the city within the context of the Land Use Act .
The Federal Capital Territory ( FCT ) at the weekend demolished over 137 illegal hostle blocks, hotels and other buildings at Iddo Sarki.
Attah noted that the exercise was a quick intervention to avert further distortion of the city’s development plans, as well as rescue desperate business men and women from economic waste.
