The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has threatened to demolish structures in the Gwarinpa Estate that violate the Abuja Master Plan if the owners fail to revert to the original design of the structures.
Wike, who made this known during the ministerial sectorial update for the administration of President Bola Tinubu in Abuja, said that FCT has a right of oversight function in the estate to ensure that development is in line with the master plan.
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The minister, while responding to questions from journalists on whether there is a tussle between the Federal Housing Authority and FCT, said that he would set up a committee to ensure that all those violating the master plan are fished out.
“FCT gave the Gwarinpa estate land to the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) and all the houses are under FHA. However, the FCT has the right to oversight function in the estate to ensure that development is in line with the master plan.
“If you build for residential, but convert to nonresidential, then you must revert or we bring it down. You cannot be a leader without stepping on toes, what is important is that you are doing the right thing,” he said.
Wike also promised to end harassment by touts in Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) because of revenue collection, adding that they have met with the leadership of AMAC, and that the only way to allow decency in the collection of revenue is for FCT to have an account where all revenue comes to the FCT and AMAC collects its share.
“By doing so, that way you will reduce touts’ harassment and double taxation, and they have agreed. After all, the law allows them to take 10 percent of our IGR, why are they afraid? So, allow FCT to do it, so that we can avoid double taxation and harassment by touts.
“One of the things in the city is that everybody wants to survive, so you find some of these elements from time to time,” he said.
The minister further lamented that one of the most difficult problems in the FCT is about land, saying that corruption is in the land department. “As I speak to you as a minister, that is one area that I have been battling with, but I will defeat them.
“Because even to make land affordable for people to build houses, which is what we are supposed to do, most of this land has one encumbrance or the other, why? Double allocation. And this double allocation is by those in the land department and AGIS. They make it difficult for people to acquire land.”