CHIKUN/KAJURU REP, HON. FIDELIX BAGUDU, ANNOUNCES NEW APPOINTMENTS TO STRENGTHEN INCLUSIVE GOVERNANCE. (PHOTO).
The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has sealed off Wadata Plaza, the building housing the National Secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), along with several other properties in Abuja, due to unpaid ground and tenancy rents. The action, executed on Monday, also affected complexes hosting the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), a commercial bank, and the Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) in Wuse Zone 5.
Lere Olayinka, Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media to FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, disclosed that Wadata Plaza owes N7,603,504.31 in ground rent spanning 28 years. “On Wadata Plaza being used as PDP National Secretariat, N7,603,504.31 is being owed as 28 years’ Ground Rent,” Olayinka stated in a Facebook post on Monday afternoon following the sealing.
The operation faced resistance at the FIRS building, where security guards and staff initially blocked FCTA officials from entering. After a brief clash, the officials gained access and sealed the property. Olayinka revealed that the FIRS has not paid ground rent for 25 years.
This crackdown follows the FCTA’s recent disclosure that over N6 billion in revenue has been lost due to non-payment of ground rents by property owners, some dating back over a decade. Last week, the FCTA, through a joint statement by Olayinka and Mukhtar Galadima, Director of the Department of Development Control, announced the revocation of 4,794 properties across Central Area, Garki I and II, Wuse I and II, Asokoro, Maitama, and Guzape districts for non-payment of ground rent spanning 10 to 43 years.
The statement confirmed that ownership of the revoked properties has reverted to the FCTA, with the administration set to exercise its rights over the affected lands starting Monday. “This will be done without consideration as to ownership of the affected landed properties. It will be purely in line with extant laws and regulations guiding the process,” the statement read. The FCTA now claims ownership of the sealed buildings as part of its enforcement of statutory obligations.
Comments
Post a Comment